Symphony In Blood
by Aikido Kiryuu
Summary: Sequel to "The Coward." Aikido is being targeted! But by whom? It can't really be by Kaname, who's returned with Yuuki...can it? ZeroxOC
1. Inner Conflict

HERE IT ISS!! Be warned though, if you didn't read The Coward, you're going to be totally lossst!! So please read the first story before reading this one. Because you will be lost if you didn't. :3

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"Shiiro, Zero?" I asked to find them in the beat up living room of Nightshade's apartment. Shiiro had been living in Nightshade's apartment for a while now, and he'd been getting along just fine, happy to have freedom. I'd warned him to be careful, especially since I couldn't guarantee the Niji Brothers weren't looking for him again. I had to expect them to be, at least. On days off, Zero and I would go and visit my brother, just checking up on his well-being. Usually I went out and did his grocery shopping for him, at the risk of someone unwanted seeing him. Zero had been getting along exceptionally well with my brother, and Shiiro had taken me aside a few weeks ago, and told me he was looking forward to having Zero as a brother-in-law. I'd rolled my eyes, sickened he'd even consider his sister getting married. Not saying I didn't plan on getting married...Shiiro just wasn't the person I needed advice from in that department. Or hinting nudges.

"What?" They both asked in unison, and looked up at me.

"Oh, nothing." I murmured, waving my hand dismissively.

"Nothing my sorry-" Zero began, but I cut him off.

"Nothing." I insisted, convincing him to drop the subject.

Of course, it was never nothing, was it? No, of course not. I went into the other room, and leaned up against the wall, right beside the door. I looked up at the water-stained ceiling, and twiddled my thumbs out of boredom. Boredom…and deep thought. I shut my eyes, trying my hardest not to eavesdrop. What did guys talk about, anyways? I wasn't sure why, but it almost bothered me that Zero and my brother had gotten so close. I swallowed the little lump in my throat, and fiddled with my necklace around my neck. Shiiro had gotten it for me not too long after his release. It was for all of my birthdays that he'd missed. He wasn't aware on what day it was on, nobody was. My next birthday was on it's way, and was only about a week from today. I didn't plan on informing anyone of this, though. No need to start anything…

"Zero…maybe we should leave now…" It wasn't a day off, and we had to get back to the school before our prefect rounds. If anyone became aware we were missing…

"Of course." Zero said, looking a little surprised. He stood up from the chair he was sitting in. Before Shiiro had moved in, I'd imagined that a cloud of dust might have aroused. But Shiiro had been taking immaculate care of the place, and it looked better than ever. "Come on, then…"

"Bye, guys." Shiiro said, smiling at us. He'd grown onto more modern slang, instead of his perfect grammar he'd used before. It sounded more natural, and it made him feel more like a brotherly figure. Shiiro began to latch up all of the locks on the door when we'd stepped out. There was a baby crying in the next apartment, and two parents yelling at one another. It was, in reality, a sad thing to hear. I prayed that wouldn't be me with my future husband. Assuming I'd get married. Shiiro had been ingraining the idea into my head for quite a while now…and I was getting curious.

As soon as we stepped out into the frigid winter winds, Zero wrapped his arm around my waist. "What's bugging you?" He whispered into my ear.

"Nothing…" I insisted, shutting my eyes.

"When you say nothing, it's always something, Aiki…" He tucked a piece of hair behind my ear.

"Bite me." I said, sarcastically, almost inaudibly. I realized how defensive he'd get about that, thinking I was serious. I hoped it slipped past him.

"You know, it's awfully tempting." He said playfully, sticking his fingers inside of my turtleneck sweater. I'd noticed that ever since Yuuki left, Zero had had a little less angst. He wasn't always his miserable little being that he usually was…he had…moments.

"Cut it out…" I whined, desperately.

"Cut what out? Your throat?"

"What's the matter with you?" I asked, trying to pull away.

"You know how I get when I want answers. And since you aren't an enemy…I can't use force." He held onto me tighter. "So…I'm using a different approach."

"What? By-" He spun me around and kissed me quickly.

"Don't think I'm done with you yet…I'll get it out of you sooner or later…but you must be getting cold…let's get back to the academy first. They've probably discovered we aren't where we're supposed to be by now…"

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	2. Limits

"Nothing." I growled softly, as he pinned me down to my bed. He was crushing my chest, making me almost gasp out for air, but I didn't think he realized his own strength. I also wasn't about to cry to him like a child about it, either. No way was I going to give into him.

"Aikido…" He said sweetly, twirling a piece of my hair around one of his long, thin fingers. "Why is it that its such a secret?"

"Ugh, Zero, give it up, will you? It's nothing," I insisted, shutting my eyes to hide from his intimidating purple irises.

He made a face that told me he didn't buy it, "I'm going to get an answer out of you…" He was biting at my lower lip now, begging for entrance. I kept my lips pursed tightly. I was not about to give into him. He nudged his face into my neck. Someone was being ridiculously affectionate.

"Justgiveitup." I said so quickly it sounded very much like one word. I didn't want to give him that entrance he so desperately desired.

"No way…"

"Stop bothering me about-" The about only came halfway out because he took his chance and began to kiss me both romantically, and forcefully. I was growing ravenous for air, though, and hit his chest gently to try and hint him at this. He pulled away, but I only got a little bit more air.

"Zero, listen, really…I'm perfectly fine, alright?"

"Of course you-" He paused. "Aren't. I'm not going to buy your crap. I care about you, and I want to help you…"

"You can't help me with this." I said softly, staring up at him.

"So there is something bothering you."

"Not exactly." I shut my eyes tight again, as his kissed my cheek.

"Aikido…"

"Please, I'll be much happier if we drop the subject."

He let out a sigh, but he was at a loss for words on the happy bit. He didn't want to make me unhappy…but he desperately wanted to know. Hah! I had him caught.

"Alright…fine." He said, combing his fingers through my hair. It had grown out quite a bit by now, reaching below my shoulders.

I scanned through my thoughts desperately for a lie he'd believe, a simple one that would let him know that I was just fine…but none came to mind. I didn't like lying to him…but…I also…just wasn't ready to talk about my issue just yet. I wasn't comfortable enough for that. Not yet.

He kissed me on the lips again, this time much easier, and I felt a little more comfortable now. I kissed back happily, and he ran his fingertips along my arm, giving me goosebumps even underneath my long-sleeved shirt. It felt like an eternity before we broke for air. He smiled at me, and I smiled back, but I probably looked tired and worn-out. A lot had happened to me recently, and this was my first real month or two of downtime.

"Er…eh-hem?" A tiny, female voice squeaked from the doorway. How long had that been open? I poked my head around Zero's shoulder to see the familiar…petite figure of someone who'd I'd hoped for Zero's sake would never show her face here again.

Yuuki. What on earth could she be doing here? Somehow, Zero knew, almost immediately, and sat straight up, gun pointed straight at her. She froze, but knew that she wasn't going to die. Because Kaname showed up behind her, and began giving Zero 'just try it' looks.

"Zero…" I forced out after swallowing a thick marble in my throat. I slowly lowered the gun from her, to the floor, and his limb moved compliantly, as if he were nothing but a doll. "No…"

"What are you doing here?" He asked, with venom lacing each and every word.

"We were just…visiting." Yuuki said slowly, still a little depressed that her once best friend had just pointed a gun at her. She was a vampire now. She wasn't Yuuki anymore.

"We have permission to be here, as guests of course, and Yuuki merely wanted to greet Sakura Aiko." Kaname said, in a warning sort of tone. "You have no business to point your weapon at either of us unless Yuuki or myself does something to harm one of the students here."

Zero wasn't happy that he couldn't kill Yuuki right there. He knew they were guests, and he didn't like it one bit. But…I wondered if he actually could do it.

My phony name remained the same, and no one had discovered the truth of my origin aside from Zero. To everyone else, I was just Sakura, or Aiko, or whatever. Plenty of people still referred to me as the new girl, although I was no longer new.

"Leave." Zero said angrily.

"Oh…terribly sorry for disturbing your rather interesting show….hmm, and I was so hoping it would get further." Kaname said. He was being sarcastic, but Zero was to blinded by hatred to notice. Kaname was purposely pushing Zero's limits…quite further than those limits stretched…

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	3. Bearer of Bad News

He was tense, and that made me nervous to be around him. But he was Zero, he was my Zero, and he was in conflict with himself. I somehow thought it my job to help him through that. I sat down in a chair in his room-where I wasn't supposed to be but was anyways- and let him sit down on his bed. He gripped the edges of the outermost blanket tightly, as if he were hanging on for his life. I took a deep breath, followed by a long, drawn out sigh.

"Zero…" I murmured softly, shutting my eyes. I hated seeing him this way, and with my eyes shut, I'd only have to feel what he was feeling.

Gradually, I was beginning to develop a better sense of the emotions of others. I'd told Shiiro about this, and he suggested that maybe it had something to do with what I was. I denied his suggestion pointedly, and didn't want him to say anymore of it. I didn't want to be any more of a freak than I already was. Speaking of which, what I was seemed to be very under control lately. Or maybe it had just been easier for me, considering that I hadn't been under immense pressure or anger in the last week.

Shiiro had told me how his…er… "power" started. He'd been sitting in captivity with nothing but a candle that was running down to a waxy puddle. He'd been writing something, on the little scraps of paper that he had. Writing "took his mind off of things." I didn't blame him, and could understand that. When the candle was literally in its last few seconds of light, Shiiro cried out softly and held his hand out, as if begging it to keep burning. Since it had been late, he hadn't been able to see anything, and should the candle go out…Then the peculiar thing happened. Somehow, the flame maintained, as if floating on top of the wax puddle. He'd stared at it, shocked, and after processing what had happened, he quickly put it out in fear of himself. Curiosity had won over him though after a while, as it so often does. And he slowly began to experiment.

"They aren't supposed to be here. They weren't supposed to come back!" Zero said angrily, in useless frustration. He slammed a hand on his side table, before resting his elbows on his knees, and his head in his hands.

"Shh…It's okay…" I said, dropping to the floor, and sitting on my knees in front of him. I placed a hand against his arm comfortingly. "You don't have to worry about them."

"How can you say that?" He cried defensively, with anger and irritation flooding his straining voice.

I winced. "Very easily," I whispered, "Because it's true."

"No it isn't." He growled. "I want to kill her…" he whispered afterwards.

"You want to. But even if she was right in front of you, you wouldn't have the nerve to do it. You don't have to kill her. No one is holding a gun to your head, forcing you to."

"No one but myself."

"I thought we were over this." I cried, standing up and putting my hands on my hips. "Don't you dare slip into depression again. Don't you remember what happened last time??"

"I'm already depressed," he muttered, barely audible.

That did it. The tears welled up in my eyes, and I ran out of the room, slamming the door behind me. How could he say that? How could he really be that insensitive? Oh, wait. Because he was Zero, that's how.

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The next day, after school, I went back to Shiiro's, alone.

He was surprised to see me, but let me in a gestured for me to sit at the dining table. He'd just finished dinner, and offered me some. I declined. I'd been trying to eat as little as possible lately. I had been gaining a little weight…

"Where's Zero?" He inquired, washing his dishes.

"Have you been…you know, paying your rent?" I asked, switching subjects.

"Of course," Shiiro said, turning to look at me like I was crazy. "Why wouldn't I?"

"I mean…_how_?"

"It's not that hard to pay for a dingy little apartment, Sister."

He wasn't getting it. "I mean, where are you getting the _money_ to pay for it?"

"I have a job." He said softly, drying his hands on a towel.

"Doing what?" I asked, prying.

He let out a long sigh, before sitting down across from me in the only other chair that wouldn't fall to pieces. "That is not your business." He said sternly.

"Where's Zero?" He asked again.

"I don't care." I said, holding back the tears and trying to sound as pissed-off as possible. I drummed my fingers along the edge of his table.

"Are you…fighting?"

"No." Technically, we weren't fighting.

_Technically._

"Alright…then…well, why are you here?"

"I just…needed to see you, that's all. Am I getting fat?" I said, standing up, and looking down at my stomach. I guess I wasn't fat…just…fatter then I was before.

"Aiki, really? You could never ever be fat. You can be so paranoid sometimes."

I gave him a skeptical look. "Alright, whatever."

"Something tells me that isn't what you came over here to talk about."

"No…I didn't really have a reason for coming over, actually…"

"Well, I'm glad you did. There's something we need to talk about." He said, getting serious.

"If you're about to give me the 'talk' you're too late."

"…what? No!" He said, shaking his head. Apparently I wasn't getting it. I smirked.

"Relax. Don't look so scared. I was joking. Now, really. What is it?"

"Well…there was more of a reason behind our parents' death. It was…not what you originally thought. The vampires that killed them were hit men," Shiiro looked severely troubled by this.

I gulped, "And…?"

"Well…they were sent by a certain pureblood vampire. One that had apparently had…differences with our parents."

"Okay…" I swallowed again.

"This pureblood…is…Kuran Kaname. I believe he goes to your school. Or…used to."

"What?!" I asked, shocked. "No…there's no way. He wouldn't…" Would he?

"He left your school though, a few months back, right? You should be alright. If he didn't know that your real name was Haruke Aikido, then you'll be alright."

"He did leave…but…" I stammered.

"But…?" Shiiro looked at me intently, waiting for an answer.

"He's back, with his sister."

Shiiro stood up, throwing his chair against the back wall. "Dammit!" The chair split into a few separate pieces. "He knows. Somehow, he found out who you are."

"You don't know that," I said calmly, my eyes still fixed on the broken chair.

"Why else would they have returned?" He said, his voice filled with disgust.

I couldn't answer that.


	4. Sympathy

"Aikido! Open the door…please," Zero growled, banging a fist against my door.

"Leave me alone!" I yelled into a pillow. I didn't want him to see me like this.

Suddenly the banging ceased, and everything went dead quiet aside from the quiet, faltering sounds of my shaking breath.

"I'm sorry," he whispered. I couldn't remember the last time he used those words, and I was sure he meant them. "I made a mistake."

I sat up on my bed. "You still love her, don't you?" He was trying not to, and I knew that. But he just couldn't get rid of that part that still held the forbidden feelings for Yuuki.

"No…not at all," He sounded surprised that I could even say that. More disgusted then surprised. But he was lying, and I knew it. The fact that he was lying hurt me the most of all.

I felt sick, and thought that I might throw up. "Just go," I ordered softly, forcing every word out of my mouth.

He was jiggling the handle, and I thought he might be picking the lock from the distinct little clicking noise that I could barely hear. I threw myself up off of my bed, and flung myself against the door, holding it shut. I knew that if he did successfully pick the lock, I'd be no match for his strength. I still felt like I'd be sick, but I ignored it and continued holding the door shut. Now I was certain he was picking the lock. I wasn't positive that it would work, but I didn't want to take a chance.

"Aikido."

"I'm not letting you in," I insisted.

"I'm letting myself in then…" All of the sudden he twisted the now unlocked knob, and thrust himself against the door, causing me to fall over onto the floor.

"Ow…"I moaned, getting up. He was looking down at me sympathetically, reaching his hand out towards me. As much as it hurt my pride, I took his hand gratefully, and got up.

"I warned you."

"Whatever," I rolled my eyes.

He took me into his arms in a firm grip, and whispered in my ear, "I'm sorry."

This was out of character for him, so I knew that it was in all sincerity. I had nothing to say to him. Well…I had too much to say to him. But I didn't want to all of the sudden start going on about gushy stuff…running my mouth was one of my many flaws. So I could only say two words. "I know."

"You didn't come to dinner today," he noted, letting go of me and eyeing me suspiciously.

"I wasn't hungry," I said, looking down immediately.

"What's the matter with you?"

"What's the matter with YOU?" I shot back.

"What do you mean?"

"You said you were depressed," I reminded him.

"Oh…that." He sat down on my bed, and I sat next to him. "I didn't mean that…I just…I guess I was upset and said things I didn't mean."

"I know you're upset that they're back. But…you need to get over that. They aren't going to hurt anyone. Maybe you should just…avoid them." At least I hoped they weren't going to hurt anyone. Me, in particular.

He didn't respond to that, and I really hadn't expected him to.

I really hoped that I was right about them not hurting anyone.


	5. Chocolate

"I'd feel better if you'd eat more than that," Zero commented as we were sitting in the Chairman's dining room. The chairman was off on 'business.' However Zero and I both know he'd joined a dating site.

I looked down at the food I didn't finish, and my brain decided I wasn't hungry, although my stomach didn't quite agree. "I haven't really been hungry…" I shrugged, and pushed my food over to the side a little. I'd actually been a little more hungry than usual. But I was feeling uncomfortable with the little bit of weight I'd put on, although it was hardly noticeable to anyone but me.

He gave me a look that said he didn't believe me, but he didn't say anything more.

Suddenly he held up a chocolate bar. My eyes widened, and I wanted the chocolate more than anything. My motivation to not eat much went away. Chocolate…

He held the bar out towards me across the table. Damn him! Chocolate was a sore weakness of mine. "Go on, take it."

I tried to change the subject. "Where did you get that?"

"When the Chairman sent me out for groceries, I picked it up."

"Why did you get it?" I asked, trying not to let my eyes drift towards the chocolate.

"I like chocolate as much as the next guy," he said simply, and threw it at me. I didn't catch it, nor did I attempt to.

I stared at the colorfully wrapped chocolate bar that had landed in my lap. It was practically screaming at me to eat it. I looked up at him. "I don't want it."

"Ah, but you do," he smirked.

I crossed my arms, but I couldn't resist the chocolate. I stared down at the little rectangle nestled in my lap, and I just couldn't prevent myself from eating it. Before I realized what was happening, I was unwrapping the chocolate, and tossing the wrapper to the floor. I gobbled it up hungrily, savoring every little bite.

Oops…bad chocoholic. Bad!

I licked my fingers after. They didn't have any chocolate on them, but the taste was there.

"Not hungry, hmm?"

I looked up, and blushed sheepishly.

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When I went back to my room, I found everything in a mess. My sheets had been ripped away, a hand mirror was shattered on the floor, everything had been tossed around. My suitcase was lying half open, peeking out of the closet.

I didn't know who did it, or how they got in. I checked my lock, and it was working perfectly. But then I remembered how easily Zero had picked the lock. Anyone could have done it. I started picking everything up, when I noticed something was written on the wall. Something was written on the wall in…blood. I could hardly read it, because the blood had run down the wall, and made a puddle on the wooden floor.

But I could make it out, just barely. It was a word all too familiar to me, for I'd heard it a million times before. Yet all of the sudden the word became unfriendly, and evil. All of the sudden the word wasn't as familiar as it used to be. It was a definite blast from the past, though.

"Haruke," I read out loud to no one. My real last name.

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Please review guys. Pretty please? I like to know you guys are out there and reading. =)


	6. Bitter News

I resolved not to tell Zero about what happened that night.

Why?

Because…well…I guess I just didn't want him to worry.

"Shiiro…I need to talk to you about something important," I said, sitting down at his kitchen table and putting on my best business face. He laughed at my expression, and I sighed. I wish I could say that my brother and I had the perfect relationship with one another, but we don't. We're just like every other set of siblings.

Well…like any other set of siblings with…um…wings. I find my brother extremely annoying and nosy. He finds me his little sister who needs to be protected from the big bad world, and who's fun to laugh at. But he's all I have for family. His expression grew serious again when he saw I wasn't laughing with him.

"Alright, Aiki. What is it?"

"Two nights ago…something happened."

"What…?" I suddenly had Shiiro's complete attention. "What happened?"

"Someone ransacked my room. They left it a mess. Our last name was written across the wall," I paused, finishing hesitantly, "In blood."

"Kuran…" Shiiro growled, "I'll kill him!"

"No!" I cried desperately.

"Aikido. You do not understand how serious this is. He is going to kill you if I do not kill him first."

"Don't kill him," I said softly.

"He puts us both in danger. We are the last that's left in this broken family. I won't lose you to him."

"I don't think he's a danger."

"You've basically received a death threat. But he must have taken something. He must have been looking for something to prove you were really a Haruke. Was there anything in your dorm room that might have tipped him off?"

"Not that I…" I paused, as I remembered a chilling fact. "Before I left…after our parents died…I took Dad's dagger. It wasn't a vampire hunting weapon, but it was passed down in our family for a really long time."

"The dagger with our family crest on it?"

"Yeah…that one. You remember it?"

"Father showed it to me when I was very young….every memory I had before I was kidnapped I held close to me so I wouldn't forget. So I wouldn't forget what mother and father looked like. I was afraid to forget as I grew old."

There was a long, awkward silence.

"But that isn't the point," I exhaled. "Kaname knows who I really am. And he wants me dead."

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Reviewwww…pretty please??


	7. Irrational Behavior

I was being very, very cautious after the "incident."

I was also trying very, very hard to forget about the incident. However no matter how much I tried to forget about it, it came back with even more persistence. Like that fly that buzzes around your head, but you just can't seem to swat it. I found myself drifting off in class, and feeling ill just from sheer worry. My head needed to stop thinking. I needed something, anything to clear my head. Last night I hadn't even been able to sleep properly, as you could imagine.

Last night had been torture. I'd stayed up all night, curled up in a ball on my bed, trying to distract myself with stupid girlish things. I'd even painted my nails. I'd pulled my shades down, and locked my doors. I'd pushed my small desk I used for homework in front of my door.

Of course none of this would stop a determined vampire from getting in. I assumed that my silly precautions would be child's play. For a vampire, getting into my room would be no harder than the puzzles on the back of kiddie menus at restaurants. Still, I felt some sort of safety through all of this. I stayed up all through the night, reading magazines, books, and hell, I'd even started reading our next history chapter. Twice last night my wings had shown themselves just due to sheer nerves. It had taken me fifteen minutes after each episode to calm myself down enough to draw them back in. Even then I was paranoid. What if someone had been watching me? Had someone seen them, by chance? No. That was crazy. My shades were drawn. But to a vampire…would that make a difference?

No matter how much I told myself I wasn't a coward anymore, I was scared. I feared for my life, and my safety at Cross Academy. I wondered if it would be safer for me to go and live with Shiiro, instead. But Kaname would hunt me down, then, and Shiiro would be put in unnecessary danger. I couldn't even be sure that Kaname knew of Shiiro's existence. I told myself I had nothing to be afraid of. But my fear had deeply rooted itself into me. Only thirty seconds of thinking rationally and I knew I was lying to myself.

I couldn't tell the chairman about any of this either. I had my doubts that the perky, feminine, headmaster wouldn't believe my seemingly unbelievable Kaname story.

Tonight I was on patrol. Tonight every one of my senses was crystal clear, and I was on high-alert. One moment of weakness and I could be dead. Just knowing that made my stomach do flip-flops. I chewed at my nails, but spat when I remembered I'd (poorly) painted them the night before. I inspected my sleep-deprived attempt at painting them, and I realized what a terrible job I'd done. There were spots that I'd missed, and spots where I'd painted my skin.

Someone touched my shoulder, and I whirled around, hands balled into fists, and punched the person in the face. I shuddered with adrenalin as my fist made contact

"For God's sake, Aikido!" A ticked-off Zero exclaimed. "What the hell was that for??" Zero was bleeding from the nose a little, and I felt terrible.

"Oh no…Zero…I'm so sorry!" I was horribly embarrassed, and I put a hand on his arm, unsure of what assistance I could be. He held his nose, as if to make sure it was still there.

"It's not broken," he said after a long moment of silence. "Remind me not to tick you off. Not bad, for a girl. That almost hurt."

I felt too ashamed to argue at how sexist that comment was. I looked at the ground, pushing away the tingle I felt near my spine. My body had thought it was in danger, and my little assets had almost come out to try and provide me with an escape plan.

"What has you so worked up, anyways?" His eyes narrowed a little as he composed himself, wiping the blood from his nose. I really hoped no one from the Night Class would come to investigate his spilled blood.

Zero studied my face carefully, and I could tell he noticed the bluish-black area beneath my eyes that had appeared from lack of sleep.

"It's nothing," I responded automatically. If I told him about Kaname, Zero would just go after him, and Zero would get himself killed. When I weighed my options in my head, I decided that telling him was not worth losing him.

I knew that he didn't believe it though. However, he didn't want to question me further. Zero could tell I was tired, and frazzled over something or other. He knew now was not the time to start an argument with me. We hadn't been on the best terms recently as it was. But he seemed genuinely concerned about me, and I appreciated that, for what it was worth.

When I was with him, everything was okay. Even if it was only for a few minutes, I had a secure feeling. For those few moments, I forgot about Kaname, and my inevitable execution. I managed to forget about my fears, and my anxiety, and stress. For those few minutes, all of that was gone.

Until the Night Class showed up, that is.

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So glad I'm able to write again. For some reason, my inspiration has spontaneously returned! Review please!! ^_^ I'll try to get a new chapter up ASAP. But not too soon, or it wouldn't be special.


	8. Assassins

I've had this chapter written out for a while now. I just never got around to typing it until today…

Sorry!! ^_^''

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They arrived so silently, at first I hadn't even seen them. But I felt their presence right away, which felt like icicles pricking me all over.

"The Night Class," I breathed, before they'd even shown themselves. Zero tensed and he stood in front of me. His hand was positioned to draw his gun at the drop of a hat.

Four Night Class students I didn't recognize stepped out from the trees. They were all strikingly beautiful males, and their eyes were red with bloodlust. One of Zero's hands lifted to wipe away any blood that remained beneath his nose. I wondered for a moment if it would bruise.

In the blink of an eye, one of the vampires was behind me, with a big, strong hand gripping my shoulder. I could see his fangs glistening in the moonlight. His hair was the color of straw, and I imagined that his normal eye color would be green or blue.

In a smooth, relaxed voice that would have made any girl's knees turn to jelly, he asked, "Was he giving you trouble, honey?" Sadly, I wasn't just any girl, and his voice only keyed me up more.

I shook my head purposefully. "No! Not at all…" I pushed Zero's hand gently away from his gun. With luck, there wouldn't have to be a fight here.

"Get back to your dorms," Zero ordered.

No one moved or responded. A chilly wind blew. More forcefully, Zero asked, "What are your names?" Zero's hand was drumming impatiently against his leg.

"Akira Ren," The vampire with the straw hair said. "Ren" began fiddling with the ends of my hair. I froze. "Let go," I ordered. Unfortunately, my voice wavered, and I didn't sound very threatening.

Zero was genuinely pissed off now. "Get away from her."

"No," Ren said undaunted, wrapping his arms around me and resting his chin on my shoulder.

My heart was hammering in my chest. I knew that I should try and escape his grip. But I found myself frozen in place.

The next few things happened so fast that I didn't comprehend them right away. Two of the other Night Class students grabbed Zero. Zero made a futile effort to fight them off. In the dark, I could barely make out the blood that suddenly splattered everywhere. But I saw it, nonetheless. I felt a bit spatter against my cheek.

Suddenly time slowed down again. My eyes widened as I soaked everything in. These were not Night Class students. They were wearing cheap knockoff uniforms, that were crudely put together. But it had been enough to deceive both Zero and I in the darkness.

At first, relating to the blood, I thought that Zero had managed to shoot someone. But as my brain chewed on the information for a moment, I remembered Zero was restrained.

Then I noticed that the blood was Zero's.

My throat was too dry. I tried to let out a strangled scream, but that was useless too. In the weak moonlight, I couldn't tell how badly Zero had been wounded, or even where he'd been hurt, for that matter. I felt Ren cover my mouth. My eyes were hot with tears. Zero was still standing, but he looked ready to fall over through my blurred vision.

I bit Ren's hand, hard, unsure of what options I had left. I felt the warm blood trickling into my mouth, and he jumped back. I scrambled away from him, spitting out the coppery blood. Ew. Ren was looking down at his hand in disbelief. I glared at him.

"You b-" he didn't get to finish, because I punched him in the face. Wow, I was doing just wonderful tonight, wasn't I? Well, at least this one had been intentional…

I stepped back again, surprised I'd just done that. Extremely surprised. Clearly, everyone else was just as shocked. Well, aside from Zero, who I was pretty sure was drifting unconscious by now. Sadly, Ren wasn't very hurt from my blow. Just shocked.

It didn't take him long to recover from that shock, either.

"You just earned yourself a slow, painful death," Ren growled, all sweetness completely dissolved.

"Run," Zero warned me. I was surprised he was still aware of what was happening, let alone speaking. I should have known better, though. Zero was a fighter.

Running would have been completely useless though. I wasn't fast by any means, and a vampire could have easily outrun me. The school nerd could even outrun me, I was ashamed to say.

My spine tingled just then, as if to say, 'hey, we're here to help you!'

Except using my little "problem" would only save me. I'd have to leave Zero behind. There was no way in hell that I could carry him.

But maybe I could use my wings to fight. Ren lunged at me. In a split second decision, my wings thrust outward, ripping my uniform shirt and jacket. Oops. I took the sky like a panicked bird. Which, I guess I was. I felt everyone's eyes move to me again. Ren stared, as if taking in the realization that his prey had escaped him yet again. Ren was quite easily surprised, I realized, and very slow in the head. He made a desperate grab for my foot, which I pulled up towards my chest, so I was sitting in the air.

"Why are you here?" I called, trying to distract him. I needed to get them out of here, and get Zero somewhere where he could be patched up.

"We were sent to assassinate a girl with wings. I guess we've found her," Ren said, still completely trying to absorb my wings, "We smelled the blood…and we got distracted. But for once, we got lucky."

There was a movement from one of the other vampires, and then I felt a knife in my side. It was nearly enough to make me drop to the ground again, but somehow I willed myself to stay airborne. The cool wind soothed the pain a bit, but left an even worse sting when it stopped.

The vampire took out more knives from his fake Night Class jacket.

This had suddenly become a very deadly game of darts.

And I was the dartboard.


	9. Stuck as the Dartboard

The title of this chapter is credited to Maximum Vampire! And I loved the suggestion so much, I used it. Thank you!

* * *

The knives glistened menacingly in the pale moonlight. I swallowed. Suddenly, he flung one of the knives at me. And I was lucky that it missed, because I wouldn't have had enough time to get out of the way. I had a bad feeling that some unlucky person would be cleaning Aikido-kebabs off of the ground tomorrow morning.

Another one was tossed, and I just barely got out of the way. Two more. One of these hit me, in the upper arm, where my heart would have been had I not flinched and pulled my arms into me. But it still hit, and I still hurt.

Another one. This one hit my upper thigh as I was distracted with the pain in my arm. Yet another one was thrown, but this one missed its mark too, because I was not prepared to let another one hit me. How many of these things did he have? I pulled the knife out of my arm, thankful it hadn't gone too deep. The jacket and shirt sleeves had slowed it down ever so slightly. I flinched, seeing the vampire pulling out more knives. Five more. My hand was shaking, but I held the knife I'd pulled out of my arm steady. I threw it back at him, unsure of what else to do with it.

It hit him on the wrist, by some stroke of luck, and knocked his gathered knives from his hand. He quickly gathered them again, and as he was bent over, I pulled the one from my thigh out. I threw it at his back, and it hit. I knew it wouldn't kill, but he dropped the knives again, and his arms reached up to his back in shock. He quickly extracted the knife, but was still in pain.

I quickly kicked the two guys holding Zero in the head, and they dropped him, whirled around and grabbed at me. But they grabbed at empty air, and I was already behind them, dragging Zero into the bushes. All four of them were after me, and I tried desperately to carry Zero, but it was useless. He tried to stand up, but that didn't work too well either.

"Zero, your gun!" I suggested quickly. "Where is it?"

He pulled it out and weakly handed it to me. I took to the sky, but remained in the cover of the trees. It might be enough to throw off McKnifey, I thought. I carefully readied the gun, and aimed at the knife guy first. I pulled the trigger, and looked away. It had hit it's mark, by some miracle. I'd never been any good with guns. Next were the two guys who had held Zero. Looking back, I probably should have gone after Ren first, but I was angry with them for hurting Zero. And they were closer, too.

My first shot had been beginners luck, and the next one missed. The only thing it successfully managed to do was give away my position, earning a knife right beside my head in the tree trunk that was unlucky enough to be behind me.

Well, damn.

Then I noticed that Ren was retreating, disappearing into the shadows followed by his other two companions.

"We'll be back!" He shouted, not seeming even a tad bit upset I'd blown his friend to pieces.

I remained in the trees, not willing to come out so suddenly. After all, it could have easily been a trick. Then I remembered Zero, and his mysterious bleeding wound, and I knew right away that I'd have to take the chance of it being a trick. I tucked the gun away in the remainder of my school jacket, and my wings suddenly retracted, leaving me to fall to the pinecone-coated ground. Zero was still conscious.

I knelt beside him. "Are you okay?" I'll admit, it was a stupid question. He quite obviously was by no means 'okay.' But it seemed like the only appropriate thing I could say at the moment. Or maybe it was the only thing I could bring myself to say to him.

Because it was all my fault he was hurt. The vampires had been after me. I couldn't be sure if Kaname had sent them, or if they were after my brother (and consequently, me), or if they had some other mysterious grudge against my family. By now, I was completely used to the idea of Kaname being after me. That shock was over. At the same time, he seemed above sending random level C vampires to do his dirty work. The bone he had to pick was much more personal to him, it seemed.

These vampires had to be sent by someone, though. They'd even admitted to it. But who? The last thing I needed was MORE people on my tail.

"Aiko!" The Chairman cried from behind me. "What happened?"

I couldn't find the words in my throat to explain. I couldn't find any words to come out at all. My mouth made strange movements, forming words, but no voice matched them.

Finally I made a strange choking noise, and pointed with a trembling hand to Zero. "He's hurt," was all I could say before I fainted.

* * *

When I awoke again, I found myself in a very bright, white room. Everything was white and silver and shiny and although it was pretty at first, it hurt to look at. I shut my eyes again, and inhaled. My nostrils filled up with the scent of disinfectant and whatever else they keep in infirmaries that I couldn't name. That sickening smell you associate with hospitals, pain, bleeding, death. Death. I coughed, and it sounded like a little, sputtering noise no louder than a breath. Still, somehow, my cough managed to break the eerie shroud of silence that enveloped the room. The peace was shattered. I was awake, I was alive, and I was-

Dang was I SORE.

I opened my eyes again to see my brother standing over me, a concerned look on his face. I smiled weakly, but he didn't return it. His gaze searched my eyes, scanned my beaten-up body, and I felt him trying to get into my mind. Suddenly he let out a sigh, and turned away from me. I forced myself to sit up, to stare at his black shirt, which contrasted so severely against the white room. But what was he doing here? I couldn't remember when he ever left that dinky little apartment.

"Who told you?" I breathed, still feeling a whole mixture of painkillers swirling inside of me. They were ruining my focus. I wasn't thinking with total clarity.

"No one at all. They'd come after me earlier in the day, and I naturally came to warn you. But…" he took a deep breath, as if he didn't like to admit that he'd failed. It hurt him that he hadn't come in time to keep me away from danger. I could tell. "But…I was too late. They'd already hurt you."

"Shiiro…" I felt my eyes dropping, "Don't blame yourself. I'm not dead."

He shook his head, "If I had found you in time…if I'd been faster…"

I realized that I wasn't going to be awake for much longer. I couldn't fight off sleep. So I ignored his self blaming speech for now, and cut straight to what I needed to ask. I opened my mouth, and I was prepared to ask my question. Yet I found that I couldn't ask. I needed to know, but at the same time I was scared. Scared to know the truth of what had happened after I'd lost consciousness. My eyes started to close, and my thoughts became more and more scattered. What was I going to ask him again?

_Gosh…I never knew how shiny and soft my brother's hair looked before…_

_It smells like old people._

_I don't-_

_Ze-_

_Kittens._

My thoughts became more and more random and scattered, and I just fell back to sleep, thinking of kittens when I should have been thinking of Zero. When I should have opened my eyes, sat up, and shook my brother by his shoulders and demanded where my Zero was, I just let myself drift away with a pleasant smile on my face, picturing a fuzzy white kitten with a pink daisy in its mouth.


	10. A Traitor

"Aikido?!" Shiiro's alarmed voice cried as I started to come to again.

"Sir, if you could please sit down-" another voice began, presumably a doctor's voice. But Shiiro was close now, and I felt his breath warm against my cheek.

I tried to say, 'Shiiro…it's okay, I'm awake now…' but the words didn't come out. It was almost as if my mouth, speech, and brain wouldn't work. My mouth moved, but not in the way it should have, and the vocal noise didn't sync up either. I only managed a weak "Sheemwikno." I felt someone holding my hand, stroking it lightly. I felt as though I'd been under anesthesia, and had just woken up. Which was more or less true.

"Don't try to talk," Shiiro murmured softly as I opened my eyes. I could only attempt a nod. He began stroking my hair gently. "Once you're healed, we'll go far away from here, and we'll be safe."

That woke me up instantly. "Wh-what?!" I cried in shock. "What does 'go far away from here' mean?!'" I tried to sit up straight, but Shiiro gently pushed me back down so I couldn't pull out any of my wires.

"We can't stay here any longer, Aikido. You should know that. It's only putting everyone around us in danger. Zero should have never been in that fight," Shiiro was trying to be gentle, but I was furious nonetheless.

"But I don't want to leave him behind," I protested weakly. "I won't. I won't do it Shiiro…"

I knew that I was being one of the most selfish people on the planet by saying that, but I wasn't giving him up. Not after everything I'd already been through to finally get him.

"It's for the best…" Shiiro was torn, too. I could tell that he didn't want to be having this conversation. The sane part of me knew he was right, though.

"It's not for the best though…you can't force me. I'm an adult. You can't make me go with you!" I probably wasn't thinking rationally, but I refused to go down without a fight.

Shiiro took a deep breath, and there was a minute or two of silence. "You're right," he said finally. Except now, there was a sound of agitation in his voice, "I can't make you, Aikido. But sometimes you need to think about what's better for the people you care about instead of yourself."

I swallowed a lump in my throat, "Get out," I said softly. I didn't really want him to go- not really- but I also didn't want to deal with this right now, when I was hardly thinking straight.

"Fine," he said, brushing it off. Shiiro turned away from me, and left the room. "I'm going to go check on your boyfriend."

* * *

[Zero's Point of View]

* * *

There was a quiet murmur of machines and people talking. It was only white noise, and at first I wasn't sure why it bothered me as much as it did. It took a minute for everything to click. I was in a hospital room. Everything was white and silver and gray and blue. "Calming" colors. Yet somehow they failed to keep me calm. Where was Aikido? Was she okay? I risked a glance at my aching body. The painkillers they'd given me had worn off, but I didn't dare press the button to call the nurse to give me more. I needed to think clearly- just in case Aikido or Shiiro showed up.

Shiiro always made me uncomfortable, which might be an odd thought, since I'm very rarely uncomfortable. The only reason I could come up with was that he was the closest thing to Aikido's father. And as her lover, I should only naturally feel uncomfortable around her parental figure. Even if he was technically only her brother. He tried to like me, but I imagined it was difficult for him not to hate me for my less admirable qualities. Like the vampirism.

I was extremely thirsty, and I longed for blood. Fresh blood- not those crappy little blood tablet things that hardly stack up to the normal stuff. I was sickened with myself for wanting it- but my body needed it badly. After losing so much of my own through the wound…

I absolutely hated myself for wanting blood. It wasn't just any blood I was craving, either. It was the blood that I wouldn't be able to touch for days, maybe even weeks without causing the person I loved even more damage. However much I needed and wanted her- for now I had to sit back and let myself recover as much as I could.

And then Shiiro- the last person I wanted to see- walked into the room.

"Good. Your up," he said, clapping his hands together. "Don't worry, I'll make this quick. I want you to stop seeing my sister."

* * *

Review please!!


	11. Liar, Liar

"Why should I do that?" Zero asked, feeling his throat close up a little. Just who the hell did he think he was? Last Zero recalled, he'd been around her a lot more than Shiiro had. He might have been her brother, but Aikido was an adult. He couldn't make her decisions for her.

"Because. It would be easier for the both of you that way," Shiiro softened his intense gaze, and turned towards the window, away from Zero. "The assassins after us will be far away from you. You'll be safer that way. And if you leave her alone, it would be easier for her to accept that we have to run, and get out of here."

"I could come with you, though…but I'm not leaving her. There's no way."

Shiiro shook his head, "She would rather have you here, safe."

"Did she…say that?" Zero asked, getting more and more pissed at Shiiro as the seconds ticked by.

Shiiro ignored the question. "Point is, if you aren't going to comply, then I'll just tell her that you don't want to be involved with her anymore. And I could do much more damage than that if I wanted to."

"What the hell is your problem anyways?" Zero clenched his teeth, and dug his fingers into the stiff mattress beneath him.

"My problem is you. I'm trying to keep you safe. I'm trying to keep you safe so you don't die. My sister would much rather never see you again than have you die. I know her." Shiiro shrugged, leaning up against the wall.

"I don't want your damn protection!" Zero glared at Shiiro, jolting upright into a sitting position. A tube popped out, and something started beeping, to alert one of the nurses.

Shiiro noticed. That meant he didn't have much time to fit the rest of his speech in. "Well, since you obviously aren't going to be a good little boy, I suppose I'll have to tell her…that you hate her."

A nurse rushed in, and Shiiro slipped out of the door, silent as a shadow.

"Get back here you-" Zero was interrupted by a nurse pushing him back down.

"Relax, sweetie," she said softly, fixing the tube that had ripped out, "Everything's okay."

"Everything's not okay," Zero whispered, shutting his eyes. He had to find a way to get to Aikido. And fast.

"Just go back to sleep now," the nurse said brightly, as if she were talking to a kindergartener who had woken up from a nap too early.

"Shiiro?" I sat up as soon as he walked into the room. "How is he? Did you talk to him?" When he walked over to me, I grabbed his hand, and looked up into his eyes searching for good news.

He immediately looked uncomfortable, "Yeah…I talked to him…" Shiiro sat down on the side of my bed, and looked at me with a sad look in his eyes.

"W-what is it?" I swallowed a lump in my throat, fearing that something horrible was about to be revealed to me.

My brother took a deep, slow breath. "I-I don't exactly know how to tell you this…but…Zero thinks it would be best if you didn't see him anymore. I'm really, really sorry," Shiiro said.

Crash. I felt my entire world falling down around me. My heart sped up, and my vision blurred as the tears found their way into my eyes, "W-what? Can't I at least talk to him?" I begged, squeezing Shiiro's hand tighter. My voice cracked into a high-pitched squeak, "Please tell me I can at least talk to him about it."

"Well…he made it pretty evident he didn't want to. He's…upset that he was in the middle of your fight. He's tired of the drama you bring…at least, that's what he said to me. He wanted me to tell you." Shiiro looked upset, too.

I broke out into sobs. "M-maybe we should go far away from here after all. I don't think I can…bare to see him…a-again…" I couldn't tell if I was sad or angry. Maybe I was both. I was sad…because I'd gone through so much. Nothing had ever seemed to bother him before. I was angry, because he could have talked to me about it. He could have talked to me about it. At least that would have been easier.

"It's okay, Aiki…I understand. You should be all set to go in twenty four to forty eight hours. Zero will be in here for longer, so you have nothing to worry about. The doctor's going to check on you later, and if all goes well, we can get out of here tomorrow. Promise."

"Sh-Shiiro? Would it be okay…if…if you just left me alone for a little while?" I squeaked out. I know it was silly to kill the messenger, but I was a little bit mad at him too.

"Of course. No problem," Shiiro looked a little shocked, but obeyed my wish, and left. "Do you want me to get you something from the cafeteria?"

I thought about it for a few seconds. "N-" I started, but then reconsidered. "Yes. I'd like a chocolate bar. A big one. Actually, two big ones." It sounded immature and stupid, but I needed chocolate more than anything right now.

"Sure thing," Shiiro said, giving me a quick smile before leaving.

After he'd left, I started to throw a silent fit, careful not to disturb anyone else.

"Visiting hours are over, now," a cheery nurse informed Shiiro a few hours later. It was nearly nine at night, and my brother had been there all day. I'd eaten through six chocolate bars, cried so hard I puked up three, and didn't touch the crummy hospital food they served. Then, Shiiro had left around seven, picked me up a chocolate shake, and I'd drunken half of that before throwing up again. I was taking it hard. Harder than I should have, probably, but I was hurting. I'd just lost my first real boyfriend.

The doctors and nurses just whispered and told Shiiro I was probably just moody because of all of the medicines they'd filled me up with. Morons.

Shiiro sighed, and kissed my forehead. "I'll be back to pick you up tomorrow, okay?"

He was lucky my injuries weren't life threatening, because if they were, I think by now I would have given up fighting them, and let myself waste away. The doctors had cleared me to go home the next day, though, and Shiiro promised that he'd have train tickets. He hadn't yet told me where he was planning on going.

"Okay," I said in barely a whisper. I was feeling all right now, although I was a little hungry. I wished I could ask him to get me one last chocolate bar before he left, but I doubted the doctors would appreciate that. "Bye."

Shiiro gave me a little wave before leaving for the night. After the nurse assured that I'd gotten to the restroom and back safely, she left me as well, and I was alone to stare out the window. I wondered where Zero's room was. I considered sneaking around the hospital later on, looking for him. Just to see him one last time, while he was sleeping. That was all I wanted, really. To see him one last time before I left for good tomorrow. So I waited a few hours, when the hospital was quiet and much less active. Most of the doctors and nurses were off in the ICU, or in the emergency room, and there were very few in my area. I wasn't positive where I was, but it was probably nothing serious. I still tried to avoid all of the nurses I could. I didn't want to be questioned. Especially not when I still had medicine in my system. They'd probably follow me around.

The nurse at the main desk in my wing left to use the bathroom, leaving the computer unattended. I hurried over to it, and quickly searched Zero's name. Rather then searching the entire hospital, I wanted to know where I was going. Because the longer I wandered, the more chance I had of getting caught. The hospital database wasn't too hard to navigate, and I found the room number as soon as I heard the nurse running the sink in the bathroom.

I hurried around the corner, and towards my destination.

It took some hiding behind gurneys and rolling machines that I couldn't identify, but eventually, I saw the room. I could only see a bump of a foot under a blanket behind a curtain with a pastel pattern, but I just knew for certain it was him. I didn't need the room number to tell me. The hallway was empty, aside from a janitor about seventy feet down the hallway. But he was turned away, and listening to music through headphones. I could hear the soft rock beat of a band older than my parents would have been. I quickly ran down the hallway, and was about to peek in the room when I tripped and fell. My motor skills weren't totally perfect yet.

The janitor hadn't heard. Or if he had, he hadn't thought anything unusual was going on. I wondered if anyone else had, though. Since Zero was in the far bed, I couldn't be sure if he was awake or asleep, and this was going to be risky if he saw me.

I quickly picked myself up, and darted into the shelter of the room. Quietly, I crept across the room, and took a quick peek behind the curtain. And met a pair of gorgeous purple eyes that I'd always admired. But now, I wasn't so sure. I quickly stepped back. Maybe he hadn't seen me. But that was a stupid thought, because I knew that he must have. I shut my eyes, regretting going through all of the trouble that I had.

"What are you doing here?" He asked, voice not louder than a breath.


	12. A New Mystery

I wanted to say something. Anything. I opened my mouth, and choked on the words that were somewhere in my head. Everything I wanted to say just shriveled up and died, because I feared that nothing I could say would be good enough. So I just looked at him. And then the sane part of me regained command, and I snapped into focus.

"I-I'm sorry. I shouldn't have come…Shiiro said you didn't want to see me…but…I couldn't…" I swallowed, "I could 't leave things the way they were…I just…I…" My voice quivered, but I managed for once in my life to hold the tears back. I cried way too much as it was.

"Shiiro said what?" Zero's purple eyes narrowed into slits.

"It's okay…you don't have to pretend like it didn't happen," I turned away from him to keep myself from falling apart.

"Aikido…I really don't know what your talking about," Zero said, trying to sit himself up straight.

"Now you're just being a jerk!" I cried, "Please, don't lie to me. If you don't want to see me, just tell me to my face, and I'll leave! At least leave me with some dignity, would you?" I turned back to face him again, emphasizing the hurt in my face.

"What the hell are you talking about. Shiiro said that you didn't--" He abruptly cut off, and his eyes widened, as if he was realizing something.

"That I didn't what…?" I trailed off, thinking for a second. And then I realized what had happened. Shiiro had lied. He'd lied, just to get me to go off to God knows where with him. "Freaking Hell! He lied!" I stated the obvious, but I was trying to believe it.

Never before had Shiiro attempted something so low. And I was really, really ticked off with him. I sat down on the end of Zero's hospital bed, and looked at him.

"I'm so, so sorry…I thought…I thought…"

"It's okay. I know what you thought," he held out his hand, and I took it. "I don't know what your brother is trying to pull, but whatever else he says…we can't trust him."

"I don't understand why he's doing this," I sighed, confused.

"I don't either…but…b-" Zero flinched suddenly, squeezing my hand.

I jumped a little, "What is it?"

"It's nothing. I'm just a little thirsty…but don't worry about it."

"I am worried though!" I protested, leaning closer to him. "You need all of the strength you can get to recover from this…so, if I can help yo-"

"No! Shut up, Aikido. I'm not going to take it," Zero argued.

"You're being ridiculous," I said, exasperated. I pulled my hair to one side. "I'm not sure how much longer I can risk staying here without getting caught." I leaned further into him, until we were face to face. "Please. I can't bare to think of you suffering."

"Won't Shiiro notice?"

"Shiiro isn't my keeper! I really don't care what he thinks, quite frankly." I made a noise that resembled a hiss, and gently batted Zero on the arm. I was a little insulted that he didn't think I could handle making my own decisions.

Zero took a deep breath, "I can't do it."

"No…you won't do it." I noticed my voice was getting more and more elevated by the minute, so I quickly switched gears.

"You're in a hospital, and people are bleeding in here constantly. Can you really risk snapping?" I said softly, brushing his hair out of his eyes.

He was about to answer me, when we heard hurried footsteps, followed by panicked conversation. As the footsteps got closer, their words were more evident.

"And you're saying she's just gone? Not in the bathrooms, not anywhere?" A male's voice questioned in disbelief.

"My best guess is that she was sleepwalking. I only went to the bathroom for a second- and then I was right back. Then Kura told me that one of the patients was nowhere to be found, meaning she must have snuck past my desk while I was gone."

"Well there's no way she could have wandered outside, right?"

"Ah…not that I'm aware of, sir."

I froze, realizing that I was the missing person. Zero must have realized it as well, because he gave me a warning look. "You need to go," He said. Neither one of us was sure if I'd get in trouble or not for being here, especially so late at night. I didn't want to find out, either.

I simply nodded, even though I didn't want to leave him when he looked so frail and miserable. I gently kissed him on the lips, before making my trip back to my room undetected.


	13. Just My Luck

"Come on Aikido. They said you could leave. I already signed you out, and have train tickets. We have an hour to get to the station. Get changed quickly, okay?" Shiiro announced, marching into my room.

"About that…," I swallowed. "I'm not going. I've decided it would be smarter if I stayed and graduated here."

"Don't be crazy. Get dressed and come on. We don't have a lot of time," Shiiro said, tossing my clothes at me.

"Please Shiiro. I only have like two months of classes left. Leaving now would be the crazy thing."

"If you're that concerned, you can enroll somewhere else. Now come. On." Shiiro was growing impatient, and I wasn't sure why.

"I don't want to leave," I protested. "I like it here!"

Why was he so intent on getting out of here?

"You're being ridiculous. Get dressed. Did they give you too much medicine or something?"

"You aren't listening to me!" I cried, exasperated, "I'm not leaving!" and the truth was, I didn't want him to leave, either. I didn't want to be separated again.

A flicker of irritation went across his eyes, "I'm done being nice." Shiiro gripped my arm and pulled me out of bed. Then he began dragging me out of the room.

In the end, he'd forced me into the (windowless) bathroom with my pile of clothes. I stomped my foot in frustration. But I decided to get changed simply because I'd rather be fully clothed than in a hospital nightgown. Then I opened the door again, ready to start a rational conversation with my suddenly-psychotic brother.

"Now Shiiro," I began, taking a breath, "I'm a responsible-"

"Cut the crap, Aikido. We need to leave, and we need to get to safety."

"No! You cut the crap. I'm an adult. I can handle myself." I felt my back tingle in agreement I wasn't some helpless little girl. I wasn't a coward.

"I'm done trying to argue with you."

"So am I!" I cried, turning my back and storming down the hall.

Shiiro easily caught up with me, grabbed my wrist, and hauled me out of the hospital. And into an unmarked white van. Not kidding. As soon as we were inside, the van started barreling away.

"What the hell, Shiiro?" I screamed. We were in the back of the van, and he was holding me in his lap with a tight grip. He was silent. Completely silent.

Somewhere in the dark, a voice laughed. "Well, well, well. We meet again." The voice struck a chord somewhere deep inside of me, and I had an instinct to get as far away from it as possible.

"Ren," I whispered. But then I realized that Ren wasn't even my main concern. "Shiiro…why did you…"

"Don't bother. Your brother is under our control. Well, under Lou's control anyway."

I felt sick to my stomach. "Who's Lou…?"

"Oh of course. Forgive me." Ren flicked on a flashlight. "I should have introduced you to him right away."

Ren gestured to a boy, perhaps a year older than me. Except this wasn't just any boy. This boy was…like me and my brother. On his back were a pair of wings, one black, one white.

"Aikido," Ren announced, "Meet your cousin."

Lou? I couldn't remember ever having a cousin named Lou. "My…what?" I stuttered.

Ren ignored my question. "Lou…is our little pet. My father, a pureblood, bit him when he was just six or seven. Being the nice guy that he was, he just turned him. Made him the family pet. He does whatever we say now. The whole angel-devil whatever you are thing was just a bonus. Like your brother, who can control fire, Lou can control…people. He's almost like a puppeteer. Kind of ironic, considering he's my puppet."

Some cousin. I studied Lou closer, looking for any signs of resemblance. He looked American. But more than that, he looked guilty and sorry. And scared. I tried not to hate him, but it was hard. I knew it wasn't really his fault, but I wished he'd done more to not let this happen.

"How come I've never heard anything about him?" I knew I needed to stall for time. Because if there was one thing I was certain of, it was that Ren wasn't going to keep me or my brother alive. At the same time, I was relieved that my brother hadn't played any part of this willingly.

"Lou's father, your mother's older brother, moved to America eight years before you were born. It was for selfish reasons, so your grandparents refused to recognize him as their child, and your mother could only agree with your grandparents. He met a women, they got married…and blah blah blah Lou was born after six or so years. Happy?"

"Not quite," I tried to remain as calm as possible. "Where are you taking us?"

Ren paused. "Well, I suppose it can't hurt to tell you now, can it? Shiiro wasn't kidding. We have train tickets. We'll be taking the train until the stops run out, and there we have people waiting. They'll drive you out into the middle of the woods, and…dispose of you."

"Why isn't Shiiro moving?" I asked.

"You're very annoying, did you know that? Well, the people Lou controls have a tendency to faint afterwards. He'll be out cold for hours." Ren banged on the wall of the van. "Stop so I can go up front, will you?" He called.

The van abruptly jerked to a stop, and Ren hopped out of the back of the van. He quickly shut the doors, and locked them. "Have a nice ride, kids."


	14. All is Fair in Love and Kidnapping

The back of the van was silent, but I could hear Lou's breathing. It was shaky and uneven, as if he were on the verge of saying something.

"Lou?" I whispered. I couldn't say why exactly I was whispering, it just felt…right.

"Please. Don't talk to me. Don't make this harder," he ran all of his words together, and I felt bad for my cousin.

"Talk to me," I almost begged, "I need to talk to you."

"Don't try to get me to help you escape. Please, don't. I can't…they'll hurt me." This kid was a nervous wreck.

"Lou…I…" I was about to assure him that that wasn't what I was asking of him, but then I realized that deep down, I had harbored a false hope that he might.

"Can you tell me something?" Lou suddenly blurted out. "If you're…like me…then…how do you keep your wings in all of the time? I never…they've always…"

I didn't want to help him. I mean, why should I? But there was something I needed to do if I was going to die, and that was at least make peace with my cousin. And maybe…there was always that small chance…that he might decide who he really wanted to side with. I didn't trust Lou, not one bit. But at least helping him might make me forget that I was doomed.

"Well…do you have a light back here?" I asked, squinting in the dark.

Click. A flashlight turned on, and I examined my cousin again. He was clearly examining me too, looking for any trace of my wings.

"Um, well first you need to relax. You're all tensed up. They'll never retract if you're nervous, tense, or scared."

The van went over a pothole, and I got thrown against the wall.

His shoulders inched down a smidge. "More," I coaxed. He stood a little less straight. "More." He finally looked totally relaxed.

"There we go. Now fold your wings, arch your back, and pull." He struggled, his wings started to go in, but he got too frustrated and gave up. I sighed, "You tried too hard."

He grunted, and fell down to the floor of the van. "I'm never going to get it."

"It just takes practice." I shrugged. I really didn't care whether or not he was able to do it.

"I'm sorry," he murmured.

"Then please. Help my brother and I get out of here." I begged.

"I can't. They'll kill me!"

"No they won't. They won't get a chance to touch you. Not if we work together. If you don't help me, they'll kill me."

Lou seemed to chew on that. "Aikido…please don't make me."

I swallowed, knowing it was hopeless. "I'd never make you. But…you could…take control of Ren…you could make him stop the van…and let us out. He'd pass out…we'd be free. You wouldn't belong to them anymore. Please, Lou…" I swallowed. "I could help you learn how to control your wings. You could be normal. And live near Shiiro and I-"

"Just shut up! I can't…they'd just find me again."

I stood up, and got used to the feel of the moving vehicle beneath my feet. I walked over to my cousin, and looked him in the eyes. "Lou, please calm down. You're a nervous wreck, and it's their fault."

"If you really want to escape so badly, then why don't you use your own stupid power?" Lou cried, stepping away from me.

We went over another bump, and got sent to the floor.

"Because I don't have a power, that's why. And I most certainly don't want to die, either. So please, Lou. If you just help me and Shiiro get out of here, then I promise that we can get you somewhere where they'll never find you, and you'll be safe."

Lou gave me a distrusting look.

"Why should I trust you?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Because family doesn't betray family," I said honestly. Then I remembered Anri, and I felt like a bit of a liar.

"Do you swear?" Lou asked, looking around nervously. His voice had gotten eerily quiet.

"On my life," I promised sincerely, hoping he saw the truth in my eyes.

"Okay," Lou took a deep breath. "Then I'll do it."

The van suddenly jerked to a stop. A grin spread across my face, and I crawled across the floor of the van and gave Lou a big hug. "You did it!" I cried, hearing footsteps coming around to open the door.

Lou didn't return my smile. "One problem," he started, and my heart dropped to the ground. "I didn't take control of him yet."

I let go of him instantly, and fell back on my butt. "Wh-what?"

Ren threw open the van doors, and looked anything but under Lou's influence. Ren held up a gun, and pointed it at Lou, "You dirty little traitor! This should take care of you!" He clenched his teeth. Before Lou or I had a chance to react, Ren shot Lou twice, slammed the doors shut, and before long, the van was moving again.

"They heard us," I gulped. It was all my fault that Lou had gotten shot. I crawled over to Lou, and looked at where he'd been shot. Once in the shoulder, once in the side of the stomach. "Lou, I'm so sorry…I didn't mean…"

"This is all your fault!" He choked, a pained look on his face. He made a horrible noise of pain, like a dying animal, and clutched his side. "I should have never t-trusted you!" He glared at me.

"No, Lou! You don't understand! I never meant for this to happen!" I bent over him, trying to think of some way to help him.

Stop the blood. I needed to stop the blood.

I looked around desperately for something I could use to cut cloth. A knife, scissors, anything. I reached into Lou's pockets as a final attempt. And I found it. The family dagger. I cut off the leg of my jeans at the knee with a few swift moments. Every time Lou made a cry or whine, I flinched. My fault. All my fault. I accidentally cut my knee, but I ignored it, and cut the leg of my jeans into strips. It was pretty cliché, I admit, and I didn't know if it would work or not. But all the movies used it, so I decided it couldn't hurt. I tied the strips together, and wrapped it around his middle, with great effort. I hoped that we weren't close to the train station yet. How long had it been?

"Don't touch me!" Lou hissed in pain.

"I'm trying to help you," I clenched my teeth, and made sure the cloth was secure. But the blood was seeping through, and fast. I took the two remaining strips, and wrapped those around his shoulder. The one in his stomach seemed to be worse, so I again, did what I saw them do in the movies. I applied pressure with my hands.

"Argh!" Lou screamed, grabbing my arm and digging his fingers in.

"I'm sorry!" I squeaked, "I'm trying to help you."

"Well you're making it--" He cut off, and a relaxed look crossed his face. My hands weren't wet anymore. There was a clinking noise, and the bullet was suddenly on the floor beside me. What the…? Lou carefully sat up, bending his neck so he could see the wound in his stomach. But there wasn't a wound there anymore. He looked up at me, to the hole in his shirt, up at me, back to the hole in his shirt, and so forth. "I think we just found out what your power is."

I hurried to try it again on his shoulder. I watched this time, in amazement, as the wound was erased from existence, leaving nothing but a bullet on the floor.

"Are you willing to try again? For real, this time?" I whispered.

"After that ass shot me? I'm sure as heck going to try again," he whispered, a smirk passing between us.


	15. Separation Anxiety

The van jerked to a stop, and I exchanged a quick smirk with Lou. Footsteps, quiet, and then louder, as Ren walked around the back of the van. I readied myself in a crouching position, wings outspread behind me. I crept close to the door, concentrating on the sound of my breathing, and of course, Ren's heavy footsteps. It was almost time…almost… The door was being unlocked, and I looked to Lou, who was sweating in his heavy trance-like concentration. I swallowed, feeling a bit bad that I had put him through all of this. Even if he wasn't hurt anymore, he was still shaken up. The doors swung open, to reveal an empty-eyed Ren. His cocky grin was wiped from his face, replaced with a pronounced frown. I sprang forward, propelled by my wings, like a wild cat attacking its prey. I knocked Ren to the ground, pleased to see he didn't fight back. I gave him a single blow to the face, just because I had been taken up in the moment of feeling powerful. I hoped it would leave a mark. I could have done worse. It would have been so easy to remove the family dagger from my pocket, and stab him so he'd never be able to harm me or Shiiro again. But I couldn't do it. Not while he wasn't in control of himself. It didn't seem fair.

"Aikido!" Lou cried from inside of the van, "I've got Shiiro!"

I nodded, standing up, and jumping back inside the van to assist with my brother's weight. We'd have to hurry, before Ren became conscious, and before the driver realized something was up. Together, we easily maneuvered my brother out of the van, and onto the pavement behind the car. I silently hoped that he'd wake up soon. Let him support his own weight, hmm? Suddenly, Lou dropped Shiiro, leaving me struggling with one of my brothers arms around my neck. "Lou!" I protested, confused.

"I helped you out of the van. But I can't help you any further. I need to get away from here. I'm sorry, Aikido." Lou flew up, higher and higher, until he disappeared in the clouds. He had left me in the middle of nowhere with an unconscious person and two people who wanted me dead. Oh, gee, thanks cousin. But I couldn't really blame him for leaving me either. After all, it wasn't his job to protect me or my brother. So long as he got away from these awful people, I didn't mind it so much.

I quickly dragged Shiiro into the woods beside the road, trying to gain cover in the trees. I couldn't follow the road, or I'd be spotted in the rearview mirror almost immediately. So I dragged him through patches of poison ivy and plants I didn't recognize, and silently apologized to him. Although I really wasn't sorry. After all, I was saving his ass, even though I could have abandoned him back there. So a little itch later wasn't something I was concerned about. After all, I was sure to get it to. But it was a whole lot better than being dead.

"Shiiro," I grunted, "Please wake up soon." He was getting heavy, and I was getting tired, and I was sweating like I couldn't describe. I had to stop. Just for a minute. I dropped him to the ground, not on purpose, he slipped, and I wiped my forehead with my sleeve. I lifted my hair from my neck, and wiped the sweat off of there, too. If you didn't remember, I'm not in the best physical shape. It's not that I'm fat (although I'd been gaining a little weight recently), it's just because of my past encounter with a vampire. He permanently damaged my internal organs, and I'd never been one to excel in sport. Carrying my brother was nearly impossible. But I had to do it, so I sucked it up, and lived with it. Miserably, I picked up Shiiro again, who was now, for God's sake- snoring. I wrapped his arm around my neck, and held it with one hand. My other arm was wrapped around his waist.

About ten feet later, I was already driven mad. I swear, my eye was twitching. I gently slapped at Shiiro's face, trying to wake him. "Shiiro, come on!"

And suddenly, to my relief, Shiiro's eyes flicked open. "Hnn? What…happened?" He asked, standing on his own, and bending down to itch at his ankles.

"It's a looong story. I'll tell you later, okay? Right now, we just need to get out of here. Questions later, okay?"

"O…kay?" Shiiro responded groggily, holding his head. I grabbed his hand, and he followed after me, like a tipsy drunkard.

I was patient with him though, and soon he had gained a full sense of himself again, and was hurrying after me, and then ahead of me, dragging me behind him. I began explaining what had happened to him, in shortened form.

"We need to go back to the hospital," I said, concerned.

"Are you crazy? Those guys…that's the first place they'll go!"

"Exactly! We need to get Zero out of there and take him with us," I pleaded, hoping that real Shiiro would understand. And to my relief, he did.

"You're right. We check him out, we get out, and we get you two back to the Academy. I'll make sure to lead them off of your trail."

"You mean…you want us to stay at the Academy?" I asked, surprised.

"Of course not," Shiiro admitted, "But I think I can distract them. And at least if you warn the Chairman, you'll have some form of protection."

"Isn't that…dangerous?" I swallowed.

He nodded, "Probably. But if it keeps them away from you, than it's worth it. And…I think you should go back to Zero alone. I'll go back, and make sure that they hear me…"

"Shiiro, you can't!" I protested, "I don't want to be separated again."

"I'm sorry, little sister." He kissed my forehead, and his wings shot out. He flew upward, and was gone in a flash.

I stared at the empty space where he had just stood, and tried to steal away the last bit of warmth he'd given off. Because I had a horrible, gut-wrenching feeling that he wouldn't be coming back.

"Shiiro…" I whispered, shutting my eyes. "Please stay safe."


	16. A Little Voice That's Not My Conscience

"Zero…I'm back…" I said, finally arriving in his hospital room. I was a mess, and the lady at the front desk had shot me funny looks, but hadn't said anything, luckily enough. My hair was tangled and sticking out, my clothes were muddy and torn, and my ankles were itchy with poison ivy.

"What happened to you?" He asked, furrowing his brow. "You look like you just got lost in a jungle.

I rolled my eyes, "Yeah. Something like that. How are you feeling?" I murmured, sitting on the end of his bed.

"I'm feeling fine, actually…" he said, looking away. I didn't believe him- not quite. I could tell that he was just about dying of thirst. There was nothing I could do for him in the middle of the day though, not with all of the doctors around. "They said I could check out today, actually. So…what about Shiiro?"

I swallowed, "Long story…" I began to tell him about all that had happened to me in the past six hours, and he listened patiently.

"So now Shiiro is alone, leading them away from us?"

"Yeah…pretty much," I sighed, not liking the sound of it myself. "He's so brave…but…he can't keep them away from us forever…"

"But long enough for us to finish the school year?" Zero asked.

"Hopefully," I sighed, "You know, you don't look all that great. Are you absolutely sure that you're ready to go back today?

"Sure enough."

I nodded, "Okay then…that's all I needed to hear. I just…don't want to risk anyone else I love, you know? Please, if you aren't fully recovered, tell me, and you can stay here another-"

"I don't want to stay here any longer!" He cried, anger burning in his eyes, "I know you're worried, but please, believe me when I say that I'm fine."

I looked away, a little surprised at his raised voice. "Okay. Then…I guess…you should get changed, huh? With any luck we can be back in class tomorrow." I still couldn't meet his eyes. Not yet. I stood up, and grabbed his clothes from the chair in the corner. "Here." I held them out.

He sat up, and took them from me. "I didn't mean to yell at you."

"I know. It's okay," I said, trying to be understanding. "But…we should get out of here. Before our classmates think that we died."

"Hm. By the looks of you, I'd say you came pretty close."

"Hey!" I clenched my hands into fists and pouted. "I'll get myself washed up while you get changed…" I walked out of his room and down to the main bathrooms. Looking at myself in the mirror, I realized that I looked a heck of a lot worse than I'd originally thought. I ran my fingers through my hair repeatedly until my hair was kind of flat. Then I began to rub out some of the dirt from my clothes with water from the sink. Not much of it would come out, so I abandoned that hope, and instead washed the dirt off of my bare skin. When I was finished, I looked a little bit better, I had to admit. It wasn't a huge change, but it was a lot better than before.

Suddenly the mirror shattered. I covered my eyes with my arms, and felt some stray shards scrape against my skin. I gave a little shriek of surprise. When it was over, I let my arms fall to my sides. What just happened? I took a few steps back from the still running sink.

_Aikido. _

It was a voice- a voice that was in my head. I was fairly certain it was in my head, anyways. I mean…where else could it come from?

_Aikido. You should be more careful, you know. It's a dangerous world out there._

The voice laughed.

_But nonetheless…it would be a shame if you died…now wouldn't it? After all, I'm having too much fun watching you run around clueless. Being constantly chased by attackers…it must be rough._

I clutched my head. Was I going crazy? "Who are you?" I cried.

_Me? Oh…I'm no one. No one at all. As far as you know, I don't even exist. Let's just say that I pretty much have your fate in my hands. Just keep in mind that its your responsibility to take care of yourself. I might decide what happens to you- but you still have to watch over yourself. Keep in mind, you aren't just protecting yourself anymore._

"_What? What are you talking about? Who are you?"_

_And just like that, the voice stopped. And I was left with a broken mirror, a feeling that I was going crazy, and no answers. I turned the sink off, and ran back to Zero's room. He was already fully dressed, and prepared to go._

"_What's the matter? You look shaken up. And- you're bleeding…"_

"_Oh…that. It's nothing," I said, quickly wiping the blood off of the few cuts I'd gotten._

"_What do you mean it's nothing? If you're bleeding, it's quite obviously something…"_

"_Zero, please. I just…one of the mirrors in the bathroom was broken, and I cut myself on it. That's all." Well, that was kind of the truth, right? There was one cut in particular that was still bleeding. Not badly, but a little bit._

"_All right…if that's what you say. Let's get out of here."_

"_Nothing would make me happier," I said truthfully, taking the hand that he'd offered me. Even though normally I would have been thinking about how lucky I was to have Zero by my side…I was too startled by what had happened earlier. There were still so many questions. Did this voice have something to do with my pursuers?_

_On the taxi ride home, Zero looked at me. "Is everything okay? You seem…distracted."_

"_Yeah…of course. I'm just thinking. I had a…long day. And even through all of that…I was only worried about you to be honest. Even though you were safe in the hospital…it was easier to think of you there than my situation."_

_I watched as his hands turned to fists in his lap. "If I ever see them again…I swear I'll kill them."_

_I put a hand on his shoulder, trying to remind him that we weren't alone, and that there was a taxi driver that could hear anything that we were saying. He got the hint, and remained silent for the rest of the trip. When we were as close the Academy as the driver would take us, we got out and waited for him to drive away._

"_Are you sure you're okay? You've been acting strange."_

"_Just…shaken up is all. But other than that I'm fine. It's you I'm worried about. You look like you just pulled yourself up out of the grave."_

"_I'm not the only one, you know. You're the one covered in dirt."_

"_You make a good point," I smiled, and closed my eyes. He never missed anything, did he? "But, seriously. I really think that you should take some of my blood, Zero. Just a little bit."_

"_Don't sound so eager. You're beginning to scare me, you know that?" He looked away from me. "I hate what I am. And I hate being reminded of it."_

"_Please, Zero. I'm just trying to help you."_

"_I know. That's what frightens me the most," he hugged me, holding my head to his chest. "I'm scared of just how far you'd go for my sake. I really wish you'd think of yourself for once."_

"_I'm sorry. I just couldn't take it if anything happened to you…so…please. Just take a little bit, just to reassure me that you're going to be okay."_

"_You don't even know what you're saying anymore, do you? I'm sure it's been a long day on you, so maybe you should get to sleep early tonight."_

_Why was he avoiding this at all costs? He needed blood, of that I was certain. Sometimes I just wished that he wasn't so hardheaded and difficult to compromise with, though. I didn't want to risk him. He was the only thing that was good in my life- the only thing worth getting up in the morning for. So why wouldn't he understand that if I could make him feel better, consequently I'd feel better too? "Zero…please stop hurting yourself and take some. I want nothing more than to make you feel better."_

"_Why are you so determined to hurt yourself for me, Aikido?" He asked, more to himself than to me. He looked up to the sky, pushing me away from him a little bit so he could look me in the eyes. "Believe me, there's nothing I want more right now than to do as you ask. But I can't go on living off of you forever. That wouldn't be fair."_

"_Life isn't fair," I said, a remorseful smile across my face. This was almost a laughable situation, actually, "But I've learned to deal with it rather well."_

_If life was fair, Kaname wouldn't be bent on killing me. If life was fair, my parents would still be alive. If life was fair, I would be a normal teenage girl, in a normal school with a normal boyfriend. If life was fair, Shiiro wouldn't be luring my assassins away. No, life was not fair. Life wasn't fair at all. And no one on Earth knew that better than me._


	17. No Peace For the Hunted

A/N: Sorry about all of the italics in the last chapter. -_- Didn't mean to do that. Once I realized it though, it was kind of late to fix it. I just downloaded Open Office though, which actually puts the italics where they're supposed to go! -gasp- heh. Enough of me talking, right? You're just here to read the story. Not listen to me talk.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

"Zero...do you think that Kaname will succeed?" I asked softly, as we walked back to the Academy. "In killing me, I mean?"

"What kind of talk is that? He won't touch you. He's already failed enough times."

"I know...I'm just afraid if he decides to deal with me himself...I'm not so sure I could win in a fight against him," I looked up to the sky, and breathed in a deep breath of fresh air.

"Shut up. I won't let him touch you," Zero growled, "Ever."

I smiled, unsure. "Thanks. I noticed that you haven't made any attempt at killing Yuuki like you promised her. I knew that you'd never be able to do it."

"I'm just...waiting."

"Waiting for what? For her to get struck by lightning? Don't get me wrong- I don't really want you to kill her, that would just piss Kaname off even more. But, I would have thought that you'd have done it by now." I shrugged.

"You're right. I don't think I could do it if it came down to just me and her. Every time I see her, I see the old her. And I just fall apart all over again."

I looked away from him. Our relationship was far from perfect. It wasn't a fairytale ending, and it wasn't exactly the most beautiful thing in the world. We fought sometimes, we argued over plenty of things. But maybe the hardest thing about our relationship was the fact that Zero still wasn't entirely over Yuuki. He loved me, that I knew. But there was always that little piece of him that was still with her. It bothered me sometimes, but I figured that it was just part of being in a relationship. There were always going to be problems, and you couldn't always fix everything.

"Yeah, I understand," I said simply. "But you know...if you killed Kaname..."

"I'd be in big trouble in the vampire world, considering he's a pureblood."

I felt a little stupid for not thinking about that before I ran my mouth. "Yeah. Of course. I wasn't serious, anyways." I shoved my hands in my pockets. The rest of the walk was silent.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

When I got back to my room, I took my family's dagger out of my pocket, and returned it too it's small case in my suitcase. Then I made it a priority to take a nice, long shower and change into clean clothes. Since most of the clothes I'd been wearing were ruined beyond the means that any normal laundry soap could fix, I just threw them away, not wanting to bother myself with them. The poison ivy was itching now, badly. I didn't own any lotion to put on it, so I left it be, biting my own lip to keep from itching it. I so wished that Zero had taken my blood earlier, because I could only imagine the suffering he was going through. Knowing that hurt worse than any poison ivy ever could. For now, I brushed it off, and tried to study. In a while, I'd have to go and help make sure that the Day Class stayed away from the Night Class, but that was later. For now I just sat on my bed with one of my schoolbooks, and read until my eyes were sore from all the small print on the pages.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

"Please, restrain yourselves. Would you? My God they're just people!" I cried, desperately pushing the rabid fangirls back with a stick. Seriously, they might as well have been foaming at the mouth, that's how vicious they were.

"Come on Aiko! Be fair, you already have a boyfriend! Let us have a chance now!" A girl whined. I sighed, exhausted. I really needed to be paid for this.

"Sorry, can't do that!" I said, irritated. "Now please, get back!"

I noticed Kaname eying me, amused, as if wondering how I was still among the living. I glared back at him, which just got me another dazzling smile before he turned away. Stupid vampires. Thinking they're so great. Why was I helping them again? I wouldn't mind letting the fangirls attack. But that would be immoral. Although I didn't really care much about morality, certain people, like my dear adoptive father, did. And I kind of enjoyed my job of patrolling at night. This was just the downside.

Later that night, I was sitting on the edge of the fountain, and staring up at the sky. I'd been doing a lot of sky watching lately.

"Hello, Aiko. I heard you had some trouble. I'm sorry for your loss."

I looked around to see Kaname, standing beside a tree. I glared at him. "Shut up! He isn't dead! He's...just...brave." I said quietly. Unless of course, Kaname knew something I didn't. Shiiro was still alive...right?

"Right. Of course. I'm sorry, I should have known better. Well, in any case, I hope he's all right. It would be unfortunate for you to lose him, after the loss of your parents."

"What's your problem?" I spat, standing up. "We're on a touchy subject here, and you just go on stamping around on it like it's a joke! My brother is in danger, and it's all your fault!"

"How is it my fault?" Kaname asked, picking up a flower from the ground and twirling it between two fingers. "I don't seem to remember forcing your brother to run off."

Whoops. Letting on that I knew that Kaname had something to do with all of the attacks on me probably wasn't one of my better ideas. "Just please, leave me alone," I ordered, gesturing for him to leave.

And just like that, he was gone. As if he had just faded into the shadows.

"Jerk," I mumbled to myself.

_"You might want to be nicer to the person who wants you dead, you know."_

_ "You again?" _I groaned inside of my head.

_"Hey, I just wanted to warn you!" _The voice laughed, and then my head was quiet again. I must be going crazy. Hearing voices was a pretty bad sign that something was wrong in my head.

I flipped my hair so it was all behind me, and stood up. Seeing Kaname had really unnerved me, and now I was going to make sure I was extra careful. If he wanted me dead, I was certain he had the ties to do it. The only question was how long before one of his plans actually worked? And...why was I getting voices in my head, anyways? The voice sounded familiar, and after hearing it a second time I was pretty certain it was female. I couldn't figure out who's voice it was though.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

A few days later, a letter arrived in the mail for me. It didn't have a return address, and I wondered how it even got here. It had been slipped under my door, and was now glaring at me with all of the bad things I imagined it contained. Regardless, I ripped it open. The piece of paper I pulled out was wrinkled and coffee-stained, and I had a funny feeling that it wouldn't contain any good news. Some of it was unreadable, but I managed

_Dearest Aik[ido]_

_ Ren and his friends caught up to me. When they realized th[at] it [was just] me, they took me as their prisoner. They locked me up, and [then] went back to find you. I fear that they'll get there [before] this letter does, and if that's the case, than I'm sorry. One of the people that they left behind here said he would mail this for me, when I told him it was for Zero explaining that we'd be on vacation for a while so as not to raise any suspicion in him. There was a piece of paper in here that told Zero to give this to you. I'm sorry that I couldn't have held them off longer, but they're good trackers. Please, if this reaches you in time, than get out well you still can. Don't come after me, that's what they want. Just please, save yourself, and take Zero, too. If they do find you, you'll need the extra help. But I do believe that you could take them down if you were with him. Whatever you do, do not come after me, sister. It's too dangerous._

_ -Shiiro_

Oh, gee. Things were just getting better and better. I threw the letter into the trash, and tried my best to clear my head. But of course, the voice chose this time to return.

_"You know...if you don't go after him, they'll just kill him."_

_ "I know that, voice," _I replied, annoyed.

_"Pretty rude to call me voice, you know," _the voice said indignantly.

_"Then what the heck am I supposed to call you?"_

_ "Are you really that dull that you don't recognize your dear sister?" _

_ "Wait...Anri?" _My eyes opened up to the size of dinner plates. So, so many questions. No answers that made sense.

_"Bout time you recognize me," _the voice exclaimed, annoyed.

_"But...you're dead!" _I practically screamed that last one out loud.

_"Yes, I am dead. That's the problem here. I wasn't completely evil, but I wasn't good either. So now I have to make up for what I did wrong by helping you now. Oh yeah, and I could kill you if I wanted to, too. But that would pretty much guarantee me a horrible afterlife. And since the afterlife goes on...ya know, forever, I think I'll let you live."_

_ "This. Is. Completely. Insane. Not Happening," _I grumbled.

Anri's voice laughed. _"Personally, I find this amusing, you know. But I really do need to help you through this. All of that whole 'I control your fate' stuff was just crap to scare you, by the way. And it worked, too, by the looks of it. But yeah. If I were you, I'd go after our brother. I always had a soft spot for Shiiro. And I'd hate to see him here with me, as much as I miss him."_

_ "Anri...if I do that..."_

_"You just have to avoid Ren and his followers, and then go back towards where Shiiro is, with your little boyfriend, and then break Shiiro out. The person they left guarding him isn't very bright, and he isn't exceptionally strong, either. So you should be good. And by the way, you might want to hurry. Ren is almost here."_

_ "Why are you helping me, anyways? After you tried to kill me?"_

_ "I already told you that. And besides. I'd rather not see you here either," _she said bitterly. So it was for selfish reasons, then. Some people never change. _"Now get your sorry ass out of there. Ren is close."_

And then, total silence. Thanks for all the great help, sister. I rolled my eyes. Looks like I was going on another adventure. Oh, joy. As if enough hadn't already happened in the past 24 hours.


	18. Zero, the Babysitter

"Zero!" I cried, knocking on his door and panting. I had gathered a few clothing articles and hygiene items into a small backpack, and then I had run, as fast as I possibly could, to Zero's room. Impatiently, I knocked again. And again, until he finally answered. I was hopping from foot to foot.

"What's the matter?" He asked, observing my backpack.

"We need to go. They caught Shiiro," I managed to get out through some short little huffs and puffs. I really needed to start working out more.

"They...caught him?" Zero's eyes opened wide.

"Yes, and they're going to catch us, too if we don't get out!" I said, grabbing his arm impatiently.

"Can it wait a few more minutes while I grab some things?"

I was about to say yes, but then I heard a window crash in just down the hallway, and then I saw Ren, looking around, evil as ever. He spotted me in front of Zero's door, and began charging towards me, two of his companions in his wake. "No, I don't think it can!" I said, breaking into a run. Zero was faster, and managed to get ahead of me. Something whooshed past my head, and I gave a little cry of surprise. We rounded the corner, and then darted out the front door. Zero had gained a good distance on me, so I figured now was a good time. I "tripped." But in reality, I let myself fall. I'd realized that if we got away from them, they'd kill my brother before I even had a good idea of where he might be. And I'd also realized that Zero wasn't going to fight them unless we couldn't get away.

"Zero! Your gun!" I shouted. He turned back.

"Aikido, what are you doing?" He cried, confused.

"Gun, now!" I demanded, and he threw it to me without hesitation. It landed about two feet away from me, and I extended my arm to grab it. I sat up, and shot one of Ren's friends. He fell like a stone. Ren and his other friend paused, and that gave me my chance to fire another shot, this time at Ren's other friend. I didn't know where my good aim had come from, but I was thankful when the other guy fell down as well. Now, without backup, Ren looked worried. I stood up, wheezing a little bit. All of this running was horrible on me. "Where's my brother?" I asked, holding the gun up. It was out of bullets now. Zero was behind me now, and I felt stronger.

Ren wasn't scared to lose his life. This was not a good situation. I couldn't try to scare him into telling me, because whatever his cause was, he was loyal to it. "I can't tell you," he growled.

"Aikido, just kill him now, while you have the chance," Zero whispered in my ear impatiently, "If he doesn't go back, Shiiro will probably live longer."

Now, I wasn't a killer by nature, understand. The prospect of killing anything tied knots in my stomach. I hadn't exactly shot the other two with any intentions of killing them, it just had sort of happened that way. "I can't," I choked out, looking down at Ren. As much as I hated him, I couldn't do it, now that he was so close that if I shot him from hear, death was pretty much certain. As much as I wanted my brother back, I couldn't shoot this vampire in front of me.

With lightning speed, he was right up next to me, Zero pushed away, and gun thrown into the bushes. "Silly girl. You know, someday, hesitating in a situation like this will get you killed," he smirked, wrapping one of his arms around my stomach, and another one around my neck, my back towards him. "You should have killed me when you had the chance, sweetie." He was tightening his arm around my neck, suffocating me.

Dammit! Why had I hesitated? I should have done it... I should have. "Let go!" I screamed, trying to kick him with the heel of my foot. Of course, things like that do little effect against a vampire. I squirmed around, knowing it was useless, but not wanting to show him that I was giving up. Suddenly, I was whacked in the head, hard. "Oh, I will...I do have to get back for now, after all, and get some backup...for I don't think I could take on just your boyfriend here...but...I'll leave you with a little curse, hmm?"

For a minute, I was disoriented and saw little stars and rainbows going across my vision. Then, there was nothing. Man, I was really passing out a lot lately. Why couldn't things just be easy...?

I woke up in a bed I didn't recognize, with a man I didn't recognize sitting in a chair in the corner of the room. Where was I, anyways? It looked an awful lot like a dorm room, with a dresser and a night table and a bed and a few pictures of me and someone I didn't know taped up to the walls.

"Aikido, you're awake," the guy said, relieved. He walked over to me, and kissed me gently on the lips.

"Ew, what are you doing?" I screamed, slapping him.

He looked at me, shocked. "I thought you liked it," he murmured, embarrassed.

"I don't even know you!" I shouted, pulling the covers up to my eyes.

"Please, please tell me you're kidding."

I shook my head. "Who are you?"

"Well, I'm sort of your boyfriend."

I almost laughed. "I think I'd remember if I had a boyfriend."

"I think you have amnesia..." he muttered softly, pushing my hair out of my eyes. "He must have hit you harder than I realized...maybe you should see the nurse."

"No," I said simply, "I'd rather not."

"Don't be difficult," he argued.

"I'm going to be difficult. Are you really my boyfriend? Because if you are, you're kind of cute. But kinda old," I giggled, reaching a hand out and ruffling his hair.

"What are you doing?" He asked.

"I thought you liked it," I mocked.

He sighed, "Your memory better come back soon." There was a long pause. "Just...how much do you remember, anyways?"

"Well," I said, sitting up, "I'm Aikido, and I'm eight and a half years old."

The man blinked. "No, you're Aikido, and you're eighteen."

"I think I know my own age," I said, pouting, "I'm not a baby, you know." I crossed my arms and turned away from him. How stupid did he think I was.

"That's it...I think we should take you to see the Chairman."

"What's a Chairman?" I asked, turning my head to one side.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

"Well...by the looks of it...this Ren character is no ordinary vampire," the Chairman said, closing some type of big book he had. "I know this isn't the news you want to hear...but...Ren is a pureblood. An old one, too."

I wasn't really paying attention to the adults conversation. I was too busy chowing down on the little mints that the Chairman had on his desk.

Zero, the guy who I'd seen at first, slammed his fists down on the desk. "Why is he after us, then? Who would hire a pureblood as an assassin?"

"Someone who obviously knew how much trouble either of you would get in for killing him."

I didn't understand what was going on here, but it didn't sound like a conversation for kids, so I ignored it, and continued eating the little mints.

"Aikido, sweetie, stop eating all of those. You'll give yourself a tummy ache," The Chairman said.

I pouted, and continued sneaking them when he wasn't paying attention. It was hard not to giggle every time I got away with it.

"So how long is she going to be like this?" Zero asked, pointing at me.

"It's rude to point!" I cried, sticking my tongue out.

"Until Ren decides to break it, or until he's dead," The Chairman said, looking at me with sad eyes that frightened me.

"Where's my mom and dad?" I demanded to know.

"That's not important now," Zero said quietly, "Right now, we just need to get you back to normal, okay?"

I didn't know what he meant by normal, but I nodded my head. He was kinda scary, and I didn't want to disagree with him.

"For now...just keep her away from all of the other students. If she runs around looking like an eighteen year old and acting like an eight year old...well...just babysit her for now, okay?" The Chairman asked Zero.

I wrinkled my nose. "I don't need a babysitter! I'm a big girl!" I protested, crossing my arms.

"Yeah, uh-huh, okay. We know, but Zero needs to watch over you anyways," The Chairman insisted. I stuck my tongue out and looked at the floor. This wasn't fair at all.

* * *

A/N: For those interested, I'm planning on writing a VK fanfic with a whole bunch of original characters, YOUR original characters (if you want, I wouldn't do this without permission obviously), who all go to Cross Academy together. See my profile for details on how to get your OC (or yourself, if you want) into it (its at the very bottom).


	19. Zero, the Terrible Babysitter

"Zero, I want cake! Can we get some cake? With strawberries and whipped cream and chocolate..." I was standing in front of the pastry shop window, drooling over all of the yummy treats that were just behind the glass.

"Not now," He grumbled, taking me by the wrist and pulling me along. "We need to get you back to normal as soon as possible."

I pouted and gave him my best puppy dog eyes. "B-but we can't do it on an empty stomach, you know...and the cake looks so yummy..."

He looked away from my face and kept hauling me along through the little town. A lot of people were staring at us, and I couldn't help but wonder why. "You know the puppy face doesn't work on me," he sighed.

"Puh-lease? -"

"No!" He snapped, glaring at me, "Just shut up, okay? It's annoying!"

_A...annoying?_

I pulled my arm away from him and started running in the other direction.

"Aiko! Wait!" He called after me, but I ignored him and kept on running. I ran through all of the crowds of people, until I was sure I was far away from him.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

"Dammit!" Zero said, to no one in particular. In the mixture of people, he'd completely lost her. "Aiko!" He sat down on a bench. How was he supposed to explain that he lost an eighteen year old girl with the personality of an eight year old? "I'm such an idiot," he said to himself, gritting his teeth. She couldn't go far though, right? After all it was almost getting dark. She'd look for him if he stayed in one place, right?

Even as the crowds of people began to go inside or leave, he still didn't see any sign of her. In his head, he could only imagine all of the terrible things that could happen to her.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

It was dark. Really dark. I wandered too far, and I was walking down an empty street. A dark street. A scary street. I hugged myself and squeezed my eyes shut. It was really, really dark. My stomach hurt, too. The mints, probably. I whimpered, and then looked up at the sky. The moon wasn't there tonight. What did they call it? A new moon? Why was it called a new moon if there was no moon, anyways? Shouldn't it be called...well, just an invisible moon or something? I heard some footsteps behind me, and I broke into a run. I still hadn't gotten over my vampire attack as a little girl. I was a little girl then, though, I didn't really have long enough legs to outrun anybody. But now I was a big girl, I was eight, and I was tall. And curvy, too. Whenever I went back to school, I knew all of my friends would be jealous.

Except, my body was weak. If Zero was right, and I really did have the body of an eighteen year old...well, then I was disappointed that my weakened insides never repaired themselves like my parents had always promised that they wood. I was afraid. I was alone. Someone was following me. I was gonna die! Something in me told me to scream, but when I tried, my throat was all dry and stuff like when it gets when you panic. I ran into an alley, thinking only of the shelter it would give me. The shadow walked by, and I let a lot of breath out. I was thankful that the person hadn't actually been after me after all. I sat down, tired from walking around for so long. It felt like I'd been walking for years. That couldn't be right though. It had to have only been a couple of hours. Still, it didn't change the fact that I was alone, scared, and feeling sick to my stomach. Why had I wandered away from Zero? I couldn't even remember anymore. "Somebody help," I whimpered.

I was crying, tears were running down my cheeks. Big girls don't cry. Or they aren't supposed to, but I was anyways.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Zero finally decided that he had to call the Chairman on his fairly newly acquired piece of technology- a cell phone. It rang twice before he picked up.

"Hello? This is Cross Academy's Chairman speaking."

"It's Zero," Zero said in a monotonous voice. He was feeling guilty, but he wasn't about to show it. "We were on our way to try and find Ren before he got too far- and Aiko sort of ran off." He scratched the back of his head, not wanting to hear the Chairman flip out over it.

"You let her run off?"

"I didn't _let_ her, she ran away."

"Are you really that bad with children?" The Chairman sounded disappointed.

"She isn't a child!" Zero snapped. Then he calmed down and sighed, "At least, she isn't supposed to be."

"You were supposed to be watching her."

"And she ran off because I got her upset."

"What did you do to her?" The Chairman cried, assuming the worst.

"It wasn't anything as bad as you're thinking..." Zero said, still looking around for the lost girl-woman.

"Zero...come back to the Academy. We'll put together a search party first thing tomorrow morning. It's late now, though. And we don't want-"

"Are you insane? She has the mind of an eight year old, remember! She's going to be terrified of the night! We need to find her tonight, before something bad happens."

"K-Kiryuu...I didn't-"

"Don't you 'Kiryuu' me. I know that I might have screwed up, dammit, but this can't wait."

There was a long moment of silence.

"Okay, Zero. I'll send some people out. You're right- I shouldn't have been so quick to risk her falling into danger. Just stay where you are, the search party will need to know where you last saw her so they can fan out from there."

Zero sighed. He wanted to keep looking, not wait for some group of halfwits who might not be there for another hour. But in some situations, especially those that happen late at night, it's easier to compromise, and agree with the other person. Especially when you screwed up to cause the situation.


	20. I Hate Modern Transportation

It was dark. Really, scary dark. Like the kind of dark where you think that skeletons are going to come out and eat you, no matter what your age. Well, okay, I guess that was kind of a bad description. Skeletons don't eat. But still. It was dark. I heard people calling my name, but they were all strangers. And I didn't want to go with them. I just wanted to be with my parents again. They'd be missing me, after all. After Shiiro disappeared, they'd been really protective. I knew that they'd be angry with me for being out this late. I was curled up into a little ball, waiting for all of the people looking for me to go away. Then I'd find my way home, somehow. I'd take the subway, maybe. Isn't that what adults did?

After what seemed like hours, the cries of my name stopped. I looked up towards all of the little glowing specks in the sky, and sighed. I stood up, and shivered. My clothes were damp. I didn't know why. I looked out across the empty streets, certain my searchers had gone home by now. I didn't know what time it was, I only knew that it was late. And dark, too. Did I mention it was scary?

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

"Zero, we can't keep looking forever, you know that. We need to get some rest," The Chairman said quietly, afraid that Zero would become upset.

Zero was upset, but he also knew that his headmaster was correct. They couldn't keep looking without rest. He wasn't happy about it- not one little bit. But he wasn't stupid. "Yeah. You're right." Zero felt himself clench his fists together, and call out the signal that the search was off. Aikido was gone. And it was all his fault. "I should have dealt with the situation differently," he said to himself.

"Yes, you should have," The Chairman agreed. "But don't beat yourself up about it. It can't be changed now. And I'm sure she'll stay close by. After all, she has the mind of an eight year old. Where's she going to go?"

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

When I walked into the subway station, everything was even darker than it had been outside. Everything was shut down, and I frowned. I guess the trains didn't run this late. I was awfully tired, though. So I spread myself out on one of the benches, and let myself fall asleep, even in the scary dark. Even in the watchful eyes of all of the monsters that I knew were lurking somewhere down in the subway tunnels. I guess I was just too tired to think about it.

I woke up at the sound of the first train pulling into the station. It blared its loud horn, and I heard the chatter of people around me, as they got on. I jumped up from my bench, and sneaked into the train behind someone. I felt guilty about not paying, but this was an emergency. And I didn't have any money. So for now, a stolen ride couldn't really hurt me. Emergencies changed normal situations, right? I looked up at the confusing map of colored lines. I only recognized one of the station names, because my mother took me there all the time whenever we did the shopping. So...somehow I'd have to get there. I paid close attention to where the lines intersected one another. That was where you were supposed to change trains if you needed to. I vaguely remembered my mother's explanation of the subway map. Maybe I couldn't do this, after all. Would someone help me if I asked them? No, I couldn't do that. I wasn't allowed to talk to strangers. All I'd have to do, I finally figured out, was change trains until I got to the one that the stop I wanted was on, and then I could just ride back and forth if I needed to until I got to the station that I recognized. It couldn't be that hard, if all of these people were doing it. I mean, even junior high school students were taking it to school. If they could do it, so could I.

It was easier than I'd thought. I'd only had to change trains twice until I finally got onto the right one. When I finally did get to the stop that I knew, I wasn't sure where to go. It had been a while since I'd been on a subway, and I couldn't remember what I was supposed to do next. I remembered something about a bus or a taxi, but I didn't have any money. I desperately searched my pockets, and to my shock, I found a crumpled up bill. It would be enough for a bus fare, I thought. Or at least I hoped. Right outside of the subway station was a bus stop, where a man was sitting with a newspaper and a bar of chocolate. I sat down on the other side of the bench, and looked at my feet, listening to the sound of the man flipping through the paper, making grunting noises as he did so. Every so often, he'd take a bite of chocolate, and chew on it loudly, mouth wide open. Then he'd take a sip of coffee, which I hadn't noticed he'd had at first. The bus came, and the man grabbed everything, but left the chocolate bar wrapper on the bench. I took out my crumpled up bill, and then returned my gaze to the man's chocolate bar wrapper. I couldn't leave it there, that would be bad for the environment. So I picked it up quickly, and threw it out.

Then I ran up the bus steps to the impatient driver. I smiled and handed him the bill.

"Is this a joke?" He asked, narrowing his eyes at me and handing me back my bill. "Get off."

I did as he said, too surprised to ask him any questions. The doors closed, and the bust sped away. I looked down at the bill in my hands. But it wasn't yen at all. It was a candy bar wrapper. The same one that I'd thought that I'd thrown away. By trying to do something good, I'd thrown out my money by accident. How could I have made that mistake? I threw the wrapper away, for real, in disgust. There was no way I could get the money out of the garbage can. Just, no possible way. How would I get home now?


	21. Back Where I Belong

I curled up on the bus stop bench, watching crowds and crowds of people go by. Slowly, the foot traffic died down as the day progressed into night again. It was getting chilly, and it must have been at least eleven before it ceased entirely. Occasionally, a stray piece of trash would blow casually by, causing me to jump a little every time. The night was far from quiet. Noises came from all different directions. Sirens, dogs, crashing noises, car alarms, horns. It was unsettling, and I tried and tried to drown it out. It didn't work. I wished that I hadn't run away. I was a little wet from a brief shower that had occurred earlier, and I was starving. The moon was covering the clouds- and it seemed like the night couldn't possibly be any blacker. Why had I run away? Feeling rather hopeless, I peered inside the trashcan, trying to spot my lost money. To my dismay, quite a few people had used the trash can since, and not even a corner of the bill could be seen. I moaned a little, and collapsed back onto the bench. Could I beg for money? Would that work?

"Well, well, well...look who we have here," a deep, somehow familiar voice chuckled. I didn't know where I could have possibly heard it before, though. Were they even talking to me? I let my eyes survey the immediate area that surrounded me. No figure showed themselves, I couldn't see anyone.

"Hello?" I squeaked, abandoning the warning I'd once been given to not talk to strangers. Especially not strangers that give you that 'bad guy' sort of feeling in your stomach. It didn't matter- the only thing I could feel residing in _my_ stomach was ravenous hunger.

Someone put a large hand on my shoulder, and I whirled around, falling off of the bench and onto the cold sidewalk. I had fallen onto the remains of a glass bottle, but had remained unscathed. Until I felt a warm little stream of liquid flowing down the palm of my hand. I gave a small grunt of pain, and held my injured hand to my chest, staring up at my company.

"Feeling a bit young?" The man laughed as he emerged from the dark pool of shadows.

What was that supposed to mean? I shook my head 'no.' My head was swimming with questions, and I was able to temporarily forget the burning sensation that my hand had began to feel. "Go away!" I yelled, forcing myself to get to my feet.

He didn't listen to my pitiful demand, and took a few slow steps forward, shoes thumping softly against the pavement. I swallowed a lump in my throat, as another figure appeared beside him.

The new man gave a soft laugh, "I think you should put her back to normal. It's only fair."

"Not yet," the first figure snapped impatiently. "As long as she has this state of mind, she won't be very competent at fighting us."

My brain was buzzing, as if I was trying hard to remember something important. Nothing came to me though, and I felt even more lost and dazed then before.

"It's not time yet!" A third voice boomed, causing the two first men to jump a little. "Wait. There's still plenty of time..."

I fell to the ground, suddenly overcome with the urge to sleep.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

I rubbed my eyes. I was in a bed now, and a surge of relief swept through my aching body. All of this seemed far too familiar- how many times had this happened now? I was in fresh clothes, and I felt warm and clean. I was still _starving_ though.

"Hungry, I presume?" Someone asked, as if on cue. The Chairman had walked in, carrying a small tray of unrecognizable food. I stared at the tray's contents, trying to figure out what everything was. When he realized my puzzled expression, he looked a little sheepish. "Sorry, I was a bit strapped for time..."

My human instinct took over, and I didn't care what I was eating. I just ate- and ate and ate until the tray was completely devoid of everything. Not a crumb was left behind. I was grateful that I was found, regardless of how or when. Last night had been a dream- I must have fallen asleep. After I'd cleared the tray and given him an honest and warm thank you, he whisked the tray away and mentioned something about having a lot to do. For once, he hadn't sounded very cheerful. I let out a long sigh, and stared at the ceiling. I was in a small guest bedroom, neatly done up with little decoration to focus on. It was plain and bland, and I was considering the possibility of leaving. I was terribly tired however- not in the way that I wanted to sleep, but in the way where your limbs just want to give out.

I didn't have any other guests for the next couple of hours- but I felt that someone was standing outside of my door. It could have very well just been my paranoia after being alone for the past somewhat days. I heard a sneeze though, and I knew.

"Who's out there?" I asked, a little panic in my voice.

I didn't get a response, but I heard a slight groan and footsteps walking away. I knew the heavy footfalls by heart, though. I didn't quite remember how I knew, but they belonged to Zero.


	22. Unforseen Complications

The Chairman came in with dinner for me later, as I didn't really want to get out of bed. After the trauma I'd gone through during the past few days, it was nice to be curled up in a bed, where I would be safe, if nothing else. I'd been convinced of the fact that I wasn't myself, but I didn't know how I could fix that or if I would return to "normal" any time soon. Zero hadn't come in to see me at all, and I thought he might be feeling a little guilty about letting me run off. It was my fault though, not his. I cuddled into my blankets and didn't touch my food. I hadn't eaten lunch either, but I figured it was okay since it probably wasn't edible anyway. I'd passed my day by sleeping and reading books I hardly understood. My comprehension skills got considerably better as the day went on, and I sort of got a feel for the book that I was attempting to read. Around ten, I grew bored and tired, so I put down the book and clicked off my lights. As I walked back towards my bed, I nearly screamed as I saw a face in my window. I blinked for a split second and ran back towards my door- and it disappeared as fast as it had come. My heart was pounding on my chest, like it was trying to escape and run away. I pressed my body against my door and shut my eyes, and a strange, warm feeling came over me. I sank to the floor, and the warm feeling wrapped me up like a blanket, right down to the tips of my toes.

The comfortable warmth turned to blistering heat in a matter of seconds. I broke out into a sweat, and wanted to cry. The heat was horrible. Unbearable. I felt dizzy, too. Why did all of this happen to me? I wasn't going to faint this time, I wouldn't let myself. I just barely managed to stand up and stumble to my window. I shoved it open, and let the cool air fall on me. I dropped to my knees, and rested my arms and head on the windowsill. The cool summer night breeze blew on me, but I still felt hot. And I hoped that no one had actually been outside my window. The heat...it felt like someone had turned on a fire inside my stomach, that was slowly melting away my organs. That was silly, of course, it couldn't happen. I felt a few tears slide down my face, hot and sticky. And then...

It stopped. The heat had left me, and I shivered. I was covered in a layer of sweat, and I wasted no time in wiping it from my face. My body ached. I stood up, more easily now, and shut my window before climbing into bed and getting some rest.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

When I woke up, my brother was sitting on the end of the bed. I shifted around a bit so I could sit up. I still felt sweaty. "Shiiro?" I mumbled, bleary eyed.

He turned around, "Are you back to normal?"

"I...think so?" I asked, a little confused.

"Are you still eight years old?"

"Not that I'm aware," I responded, concentrated on the fact that I needed to take a shower. "How did you...escape?"

"Zero," he said softly, "Zero came, and killed Ren."

"What?" I cried incredulously, springing out of bed. "But, Ren was a pureblood! He'll get into a ton of trouble for that! They'll kill him!"

"Calm down," Shiiro stood up to face me and put his hands on my shoulders. "Ren was doing bad things. He was in trouble with vampire law. There will be some repercussions on Zero's part, however they won't send him to jail or have him killed."

I relaxed a little. "You're sure?"

"I'm sure," he replied, pulling me into a hug. I wrapped my arms around his neck. And I noticed the bite marks. I pushed him away almost instantly.

"Who bit you?" I demanded, brushing my fingers against the marks. I wanted to cry.

His eyes widened before moving to stare at the carpet. He put his hand up to cover the healing wound. "It's not a big deal," he mumbled, almost inaudible.

"Who bit you?" My head was turning in violent circles. What if it was Ren, a pureblood? Could our kind turn into vampires?

"Aikido, please don't worry about it."

"I would be very worried about it if I were you," a voice said from the doorway.


End file.
